Rain
by craizypet
Summary: Sequel to I'm With You. Kakashi has always had bad luck when it comes to those that he loves, and Sakura seemes to fall in love with the wrong guy. kakasaku, read I'm With You first... other wise it does not makith the sense...
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys!!! I feel special, i got a review, actually, TWO!!! hehe, I'm a sad creature, I know... :p

Anywho, here's the first chappie to the sequel of I'm With You... Hope you likie

***

Come Clean

Sakura smiled into her teacher's dark eye.

They were dancing at the party, and Sakura was feeling great. Even though she had been hurt by Sasuke, she had managed to get back up, and face the world and the man that she had loved, who broke her heart.

Kakashi had been wonderful too, watching over her, and keeping her company. He had even scared off Sasuke and other people who were going to try and say something about him. He had shown Sakura a side of him that only she really saw; the side that strong and caring, and protective.

Even way back, when Sakura was twelve, right from the beginning, he had looked out for her, and protected her. Everything had seemed perfect then, like her team. Even though they had had problems, they had all been together, and on the same page. They had helped each other, and aligned with each other against what ever challenges had been throw at them.

Until he had left.

Sakura was trying be strong, but just looking at Sasuke hurt her, and finally, she decided that she had had enough of watching him dance with other girls, looking at her with spiteful eyes. She shook her head, and then steadied herself, with the help of the firm hand on her back.

"Don't give in Sakura. Ignore him, and enjoy yourself tonight." Kakashi whispered into her ear, his voice calm and soothing, his breath brushing across her ear and the back of her neck, making a path of shivers wind down her back.

She nodded in his arms, keeping her steps to the beat, never missing a step.

'He's not good for me. He's not good for me.' Sakura chanted under her breath.

She swirled out in a spin, keeping her hand firmly in Kakashi's. The silver haired man gave a small smile, and then pulled her back towards him.

"Lets go outside." He suggested, looking up to watch his other former student dance with a beautiful dark haired lady.

Sakura nodded, agreeing easily as she pulled on his hand, leading him out to the sheltered garden area of the Hyuuga estate. The gardens were beautiful, and as Shino had said before, well maintained. The Hyuuga's paid Yamato to keep the trees well formed and strong.

They walked down the roofed walkway to a small wooden sanctuary. The pavilion had carved stone seats lining the inside, and hedged trees growing along the walls. Kakashi pulled Sakura into the porch, and sat down on one of the stone seats.

"Sakura, can I talk to you?" he asked, patting the stone seat next to him. Sakura smiled and sat down.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, her bright smile almost reaching her eyes, but not quite.

The jounin sighed and pulled off his hidate. He rubbed his eye, and then looked up at Sakura with his mismatched eyes, the sharingan spinning lazily.

"You know what I want to talk about." He stated, in his no nonsense voice.

Sakura bit her lip, and scuffed her foot on the ground, before making a huff noise. "Do we have to talk about it. I'm fine, and I have already said that to you."

The silver haired man laughed, humourlessly, and then shook his head.

"No Sakura, you are not fine. How could you be when you just got completely rejected by someone who you have loved since you were twelve?" he smiled at her under his mask, his eyes crinkling.

Sakura froze listening, before glaring at him, and then avoiding his gaze. "You know, you are not very good at this are you? You are not doing a very good job of cheering me up."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Well… I got you to admit that you were not fine, didn't I?"

"Not really."

"…"

The copy nin sighed, still rubbing the back of his head. "The point of this whole talk is that you know that you would not have enjoyed being with Sasuke, even if he had accepted you."

Sakura looked at him disbelievingly.

He held out his hands defensively. "Now, now, hear me out."

"…Fine…"

"You are not made to be the matron of a major clan, like the Uchiha. Don't look at me like that, you know you would hate it." Sakura stopped her glaring, and then leaned back on the seat, gesturing for Kakashi to go on.

"You would hate it," he repeated, "The rules and boundaries that are set for the women of the clans, especially those who are married to the head of the clan, are restricting, and you would hate it. You would have to give up everything, your home, your career, even your own freedom, so that you could be the mother of the clan and bear children."

Continuing in a softer voice, Kakashi looked Sakura in the eyes.

"Most woman who marry into the clans have no choice, as it is an arranged marriage. Even if they choose to marry into the clan, their expectation are too high, and they find out that what life they think is luxurious and perfect, turns out to no as perfect as what they thought."

Sakura sighed, taking in what the elder shinobi was saying. "So you are saying that their idea's of the 'clan' life, are actually nothing like what they thought. You think that by trying to marry Sasuke, that I am trying to force something to happen, that just won't fit."

Kakashi gave her an eye crinkle. "Yep. Basically, you would spend your whole life trying to fit a square into a circle-"

Sakura interrupted. "Which is not a life in my standards."

Kakashi's grin under his mask widened, as his student got the point. "Yes. You would not sit by and abide by that type of thing. You are a strong, impatient young woman. You would end up rebelling and defying against the clan."

Sakura nodded. She looed out at the garden, and listened to the steady pattering of the rain.

"I know." She said finally, after a couple of minutes of them just sitting there, listening to the rain. "I know that I would not suit it, but after so long, it is hard to let go of that thought, of having a relationship with Sasuke. I have always been so focused on it, and now to lose it… it's like I have lost my dreams."

"…" There was a silence for a while, before Kakashi spoke up.

"You know, you can dream new dreams." He offered, standing up and stretching out, offering his hand for Sakura to take to go back to the party.

She took it, feeling some comfort in the warmth that he provided. He pulled her up, so fast that she found her face only inches away from his.

"Thank you." She murmured, a small blush gracing her face. She did not know why she was blushing, but all that she could think about was how kind Kakashi had been to her all night, an how warm his hand was, and how beautiful his eye was, the one without the sharingan.

She had thought that it was gray, but looking closer she could see that it was more of a blue gone gray and black. It had the same midnight blue and dark coal black base in it as what Sasuke's did, but Kakashi's also had light shades of sky blues and purplish greys mixing in with it.

Now that she was looking at it and thinking about it, Kakashi's eye looked like a summer rain storm, one of those fast moving storms that hit near the end of the day. There was the sky blue colour before the light grey clouds moved in, and then the colours when the heavy purple clouds dropped their load of water to the ground, painting the world in shades of grey and indigo.

Instinctively, Sakura leant forward, her lips brushing across Kakashi's. She didn't know why she did it, she just acted on impulse. Maybe it had to do with all the emotions she was feeling or maybe it had to do with the captivating beauty of his eye. She didn't know.

But she did know that it felt good.

His lips against the mask were soft, and perfect, and felt well shaped under the layer of cotten. He smelt of forest and sandalwood and the rain. She would have thought that he smell like dog, or even wet dog, because of the mask, the rain and his summons, but his scent was fresh and masculine, and uniquely him.

As she wound her arms around his neck, she forgot about Sasuke, and forgot about the future with him, bearing his dark haired, dark eyed sharingan holding children. Instead, in its place was a vision of Sakura and Kakashi, of her holding a small pink haired girl, and a young silver haired child tugging on Kakashi's sleeve as he looked deep into Sakura's eyes, smiling at her under the mask.

The vision vanished, and Sakura pulled back from Kakashi, looking into his eyes, to try and find some emotion in them. They had changed, and looked cold, and dead, as he looked at her, his face serious and unrelenting.

Sakura turned away, feeling stupid that she had done that. He had made no moves to her, nor had he even suggested that he was with her for reasons other than looking out for a team mate.

"I'm sorry." She murmured, closing her eyes, and opening them to look out at the falling rain. "I don't know what came over me."

She heard his quiet steps as he moved down the stairs of the balcony.

She then heard his quiet measured voice.

"It's okay… you are confused at the moment, and need some time to sort things out. It was only the frustration thanks to Sasuke that made you do that."

He didn't blame her for it, and was not angry, but the lack of feeling in his voice and the lack of response told Sakura all that she needed to know. Although he was her date, and he had asked her to go with him, it was out of concern and pity; no real infatuation or adoration involved.

He had helped her…

In a way that left more questions than answers.

***

Is it just me, or did the word 'fine' look funny after reading that...

Hope you like it... if you do, please, press the little button below labelled REVIEW. BTW, if I get more reviews, then the next chappie comes up sooner...

Thanks!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Ok guys, craizypet here. here chappie two, and as i promised i am getting it up pretty fast... well, for me anyway. and just as a little reward/bribery thing, i will put up the next chappie, chapter 3 as well!!! yay!!!

hope you enjoy... here's a little insight to kakashi's thoughts...

***

It shattered Kakashi to leave Sakura standing in the pavilion like he did, but he knew it was the best thing to do.

Especially since the destruction of Sakura's dreams, lead the wakening of Kakashi's.

His feelings for Sakura scared him, and excited him at the same time, and he wanted her… to be with her, to have her see him off at the gate when he left for a mission, for her heartfelt kisses and promises, and then, when he got back from the missions, for her to heal his wounds with her soothing green chakra, greeting him home, and waiting for him.

He did not know when he really began seeing Sakura like that, and wanting that type of life with her.

It might have been when they had done a mission together, and she had saved his life, and Obito's eye with her healing skills. It could have been when he saw her compassion as she tended to the young children's injuries and her fierce protectiveness of those very same children when a small village had been attacked by the sound village and their allies.

It might have been when he stared seeing her as a woman. When she wore that beautiful green dress to the formal ball between Suna and the other allies of Konoha. When she hit Kiba for trying to peek at her when she at the bar, or when he saw her being kissed by the brown haired chunnin, before she calmly and apologetically told him she was not interested.

Or maybe he felt something for her when she showed up at the memorial on Obito's birthday, holding a white poppy in her hand to lay on the ground with Kakashi's own offering.

Even though she had still been in love with Sasuke at those times, she had been a compassionate, selfless soul and a companion. She had still been there for him, whether she knew it or not, and had made an impression on Kakashi's cold blank slate of a soul. She had managed to warm the coldest, lighten the darkest, and smash the hardest walls around his soul.

Those walls that he had put up, to stop people from reaching him, to stop him from feeling the pain of losing those he loved and held dear.

Kakashi groaned, gulping down the last of his drink, before nodding at the Hyuuga man guarding the door. He walked out of the front door, out of the Hyuuga's estate and into the streets.

And the pouring rain.

'Nothing stops the rain from falling.' He thought absentmindedly as he walked to his favourite haunt, the memorial stone. 'And with the falling of the rain comes the cool numbness that I need… So let the rain fall down.'

He bent down, crouching near the muddy earth in front of the unmovable grey stone. He ran his fingers over the names and then began talking.

"I have always loved the rain, Obito. It was a constant reminder that everything has a weakness. My mother used to say that when it rained, it was the sky and the heavens crying."

"But to me, the rain was more a relief, rather than grief. Whenever I am hurting, or am tired of the world, I want it to rain. It numbs my body and mind. It helps me stay away from nightmares. When I was younger, I would fall asleep immediately, if it was raining. The noise of the rain kept my nightmares at bay, and only let my dreams accompany me in my sleep."

"I was right. The rain does bring my dreams. It did tonight. The rain fell down, and it woke my dreams, but it washed away my sanity, and I lost my voice of reason. I gave in to my desires, but I was too afraid to let my dreams take over, so I ran away."

Kakashi sighed, looking down at his feet and then up at the name on the stone.

Uchiha Obito

"I didn't know what to do, and I still don't know what to do."

***

haha, cliffy... kinda... don't worry though, as i said, i'll be putting up the next chapter as well, so PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!

Sorry, this chappie was a bit short...


	3. Chapter 3

craizypet here, and so is the next chappie!!!

***

"Kami, Damn IT!!!" Sakura shouted, as she punched the tall wooden pole in front of her. It smashed into a thousand pieces, the debris flying everywhere. She had come to the training grounds to vent her frustration, as her shishou had taught her.

'Much like my heart at the moment.' Sakura thought bitterly. It reminded her of the old legend that she loved as a child, and still brought tears to her eyes then. 'The legend of the Snow Queen. Or was it of the Ice Child?'

She could not remember, but the start of the story was what reminded her of it. The girl in the legend, the Snow Queen or Ice Child, or what ever, had her heart turn to ice, and shatter into a thousand pieces, each piece shooting out into the world and burying its self into a person and changing their hearts to ice.

In another tale it was not the queen's heart that shattered, but an evil mirror. It shatters into billions of pieces — some no larger than a grain of sand. These splinters are blown around and get into people's hearts and eyes, making their hearts frozen like blocks of ice and their eyes like the mirror itself, only seeing the bad and ugly in people and things.

Sakura burst out laughing.

"I'm being over dramatic aren't I?" she thought out loud, "I am just so angry, and upset and, and-" she trailed off as she viciously began attacking the log again. She ignored the rain, unknowingly thinking the same thing as her team mate.

'Let the rain fall.'

She lashed out harder. 'I don't care. All it does is bring pain.'

And harder. 'I need to get rid of this feeling.'

And harder. 'I need release from this.'

And then the storm really began, as if it was reflecting Sakura feelings, and her anger.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, growling and snarling threateningly. Light flashed, following the thunder across the sky. The thunder growled again, booming overhead, rolling closer to Konoha, until the noise was a roar above Sakura's head.

The noise only encouraged Sakura, as she felt the thunder growl through her, like she had wanted it to, and she roared in rage, her scream covered by the crack of the thunder. Lighting flashed again, and Sakura fell to her knees, tired and unwound. She felt better after that, a heck of a lot more tired too, but better.

The thunder rumbled again, the storm passing over the village, although the rain keep falling. The clouds would pass later in the night, more than likely, but Sakura didn't care.

'Let the rain fall down.' She thought, as she sat in the mud, her black dress ripped and ruined by the rain, mud and by Sakura's calming techniques. She felt better, even though she was covered in mud, and water. She felt cleaner.

'I'm coming clean.'

Sakura stood in the shower, her hands moving on autopilot as she washed the mud and leaves out of her hair. She had released all of her emotions, and was already thinking about them, and what caused them.

She had been confused about her feelings for Sasuke, but now she knew that she had no feelings for Sasuke. Ok, maybe that was a lie. She felt nothing in the romantic sense for Sasuke. She did feel, however, a sense of contempt and horror for him. She could not believe that he could be so, so, so…

'Cold hearted?' her inner self suggested.

'Blatantly honest?' she tried.

'A complete and utter jerk? A cold hearted basted? Unsubtle, emotionless, impassive, selfish, insensitive man made of cold, unmoving marble?' Her inner self retaliated against her more compassionate self.

Sakura laughed, thinking that all of those could be used when talking about Uchiha Sasuke. He had turned out, very much, like his older brother that he hated so much.

'Oh the irony…' Her inner self joked, laughing cruelly at the look on Sasuke's face if she told him that.

Sakura stood in the warm cascade of water, and then thought about Kakashi. Why had she kissed him? Was it because she needed to? Because of her emotions running high? Because she felt grateful for him looking out for her? Because she wanted to? Because she liked him?

In the romantic sense?

Sakura shook her head, trying to see things from every angle. She needed some light to be shed on her situation and why she had acted the way she had. Like art, she would examine her actions, and shed every colour of it, just to find even one pigment of truth. Whether it be hiding beneath the circumstances, her actions, or even beneath her skin.

She thought about Kakashi, and then felt a bubble of warmth grown within her.

She liked him. She really, really liked him. As in she liked him, and wanted to always be with him, and kiss him, and touch him…

'People will say things…' a part of her mind thought. 'They will be cruel, look at how they treated Naruto…'

'Heck with it!!!' her inner self raged. 'I don't care what they think! I can take it, CHA!'

'He was your teacher…' the reasonable part thought. 'It's more than likely against the rules…'

'Heck with the rules, then!' her inner mind shouted. 'Have you seen him! His body is amazing!!!'

'It will change the team's dynamics' the reasonable part argued. 'The age difference is too great…'

'I wonder what he hides under the mask…' her inner self mused, ignoring all reason. 'Naruto thinks he has fish lips, or maybe a huge mole , but I bet that he loos good looking. Heck, I bet he looks handsome, maybe even like an underwear model.'

'He doesn't like us in that way.'

'His muscles are to die for… and his butt… and his…'

'Too old…'

'Hot body…'

'Rules…'

'Mysterious…'

'Teacher…'

'Hot ex teacher…'

'Doesn't like us like that…'

'We can seduce him!'

'Too smart for that…'

'Hello? He is male! They are never too smart for that!' Her inner rolled her eyes at her reasonable part... 'Duh!'

'…True…'

'Plus, even if going out with your ex teacher is different, or weird, it won't seem any different than what it is like when you are with him now.'

'…True…'

'And going out with him is a much better idea than your thoughts of avoiding him, and staying home.'

'…Going out is better then always staying in…'

Her reasonable mind gave in, as it found it too hard to fight against the thoughts of good looking male bodies, and mysterious masks. Not to mention the eyes that you could fall into and drown in…

***

Gotta love Sakura's inner. It is sooooooo much fun to play with!

Just in case you are confused, at the start of the chappie, where Sakura is punching the log, harder and harder, she is thinking about the rain... If you didn't notice, she is a bit angry... Lol

I was thinking for the next chapters, i will be putting up some flashbacks, of the memories that Kakashi had of Sakura in chapter 2...

You guys know the drill, read and review please!!! The faster, and more reviews, the faster the next chapters!!!


	4. Chapter 4

hehe, i have gotten THREE REVIEWS!!! YAY!!!

once again i repeat... i am a sad person... lol.

***

Sakura cautiously ventured out of the house. The rain had continued that night, well into the early hours of the day, and, from the dark overcast sky above the village, it was threatening to start again.

She smiled, as she walked out of the house though, happy that it was not raining, and that there was no sign of the silver haired man that she had inconveniently given her heart to. Don't get her wrong, she did want to confront him about her feelings, but she just wanted some time to prepare herself for the talk. She didn't want to dive into the deep end without know exactly how deep the water was…

The streets were quiet. Not many people wanted to go outdoors after that storm, and Sakura was glad for it. She did not need to run into any old friends-

Bump.

'Murphy's law is a biatch.' Sakura thought, rubbing her head, after running into some hard, tall object.

She looked up and met cold black eyes.

'You're kidding me.' Her inner proceeded to hit it's head against a wall.

The hairdo gave away who the person was, not to mention the cold, and damn right hostile aura that he was radiating.

'His hair always did look like the back end of a chicken…' her inner mused, studying Uchiha Sasuke's hair with much enthusiasm.

"Sasuke." Sakura forced herself to be civil.

"Sakura." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as they took in her appearance. She was… pretty good looking for someone he had completely crushed the night before. Her eyes did have dark shadows under them, but not making her look horrible, but just making her look… thoughtful. Like she had lost a nights sleep over the mystery of the nature of the universe.

Nah, who was he kidding. She just looked tired. And annoyed…

Her eyes were glinting rather angrily…

"How was the party?" Sakura tried to control her features into a politely disinterested look. She was pretty sure that it was passable, but then again, by the slightly surprised look on Sasuke's face, she might have been wrong.

Sasuke looked at her, suspiciously, then replied.

"Hn."

Inner Sakura proceeded to hit her head against a wall. The real Sakura just sighed, shaking her head.

'Some things never change…' she thought.

Sasuke shrugged, and then began walking past. He stopped for a second, and then thought.

"By the way Sakura… I talked to Naruto last night, and the dobe told me off… for what I said to you, and wants me to apologise to you, and clarify myself…" he coughed, his eyes dark and almost soft.

"What I said, last night… it was…" he struggled with words, his face turning annoyed and dark. He did not like to admit he was wrong. "Wrong."

Sakura coughed, choking on air. "What?" she managed to ask, incredulously.

He sighed, shrugging his hands into his pockets. "As you know, I got back not long ago. The image I held of you… it was… well, old. It was the image of the twelve year old girl, that was crazy over me, and had no interest in becoming a true shinobi, other than to try and impress me. Naruto corrected me last night, and took me to the training ground where you normally train, and reserve for youself alone."

"And?" Sakura could not believe her ears.

"I saw the damage you did to it. I changed my mind. You are stronger than what I thought."

Sakura laughed, almost falling to the ground in hysterics. "Ha ha, you actually admitted you were wrong about something… HA!!!"

Sasuke scowled, his face angry.

"Sorry Sasuke, I just found that funny." Her face grew serious, and she stared at Sasuke, frowning slightly. "You know Sasuke, you hurt me with your words. You did not even try to get to know me, or even wait till you judged me, you just presumed and believed that I was the same little girl always following behind you two. But I have to thank you as well."

It was Sasuke's turn to cough and look confused.

"If you had not rejected me last night, I would have never gotten over you, or at least not yet. I needed to get over you, and grow up and see you how you are now. I guess I still saw the younger version of you as well in a way. I did not see that you had changed too, and were no longer the boy that I knew." She held out her hand, and then smiled.

"So lets start again. Hi, I'm Haruno Sakura, and I'm the apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade. I am a medic nin and in ANBU as well. And you are?"

Sasuke gave a tiny smile, which turned into a smirk. "Uchiha Sasuke, the last survivor of my clan. I am becoming an ANBU member as soon as possible, and have completed my goal to kill my older brother, Uchiha Itachi, who killed my clan."

They shook hands, warily starting again. As friends, and team mates.

***

YAY!!! once again, i love Sakura's inner...

sorry people who don't like Sasuke, and wanted Sakura to be all angry at him... i just thought it would be easier for their team to work if they weren't fighting all the time and being annoyed at each other... i don't really know what i was thinking when i wrote this chapter... i had wrote that she would bump into sasuke, but the rest was just a spur of the moment writing...

by the way, thanks to my reviewers, Pance, nickule, and thunderstar101

read and review people...


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura walked down the streets, much happier than before. Sasuke and her had become friends again, and had left behind the pain and love that had surrounded her before. She knew that their team would be strong again, as soon as she faced Kakashi.

Going to the hospital, Sakura knew that she wanted to do some work there, to help people and to keep her mind occupied. Even though she was not on hospital duty that day.

She opened the door to the hospital, and walked in, to the front desk. She smiled at the young lady behind it. "Hello Sayuki-san. How are you today?"

The woman smiled back. "Sakura-san, I did not know that you were on hospital duty today? I am fine thank you."

"I'm not."

Sayuki frowned slightly. "Excuse me?"

Sakura was confused, and then realised what Sayuki was asking. "Oh, I meant that I'm not on hospital duty today, not that I'm not feeling fine."

"Ohhh…" Sayuki smiled, and then laughed. "Okay then, I get what you mean." She handed Sakura her clip board, and then looked at the patient list. "There are a few injuries, if you go to your office, I'll send someone up with the board of patients."

Sakura smiled gratefully. She knew that it took a lot of time and effort to sort out who was going to have what patient, and because Sakura had turned up with out notice, Sayuki was going to have to make another board, especially for her.

"Thank you Sayuki-san." She said, and then made her way up the stairs and to her office. Her office, although small, had a good view of the village, and if she looked down, she could see the hospital doors, and every patient that walked through them. That's way she was given that office.

As one of the leading medics and the Hokage's apprentice, Sakura was one of the best healers in the hospital, and second to the Hokage herself. Shizune still taught Sakura things, but Sakura's skill had long passed Shizune's. Not that Shizune minded.

Because Sakura was one of the best, she was often needed for the hardest and most complicated operations. Her chakra control was perfect, and she was a fast learner. As the Hokage and Shizune had said, she soaked up knowledge like a sponge did to water.

A runner came up to her office, and knocked on the door. "Here is your patient list, Haruno-san."

Sakura nodded her thanks, and took the board, looking down the list of patients curiously. There were many names on the list, but the one that caught her eye was that of a particular patient that could help her out with her little dilemma.

Sakura laughed, almost evilly, as she read the name out loud.

"Shiranui Genma."

It was the best piece of luck she could have that day. It seemed to Sakura that she was having a lucky day; reconciling with Sasuke, and now having a patient that was best friends with Kakashi? She smiled to herself, and then moved to go to her first patient, who should arrive in about five minutes.

The first patient was a civilian, who had bad arthritis. He obviously had a lot of money in his family, she gathered by the style and wealth of his clothes, and also by the fact that he managed to get himself treated by a chakra medic, instead of going to a normal civilian doctor and getting sent to the pharmacist.

She treated him, taking away the pain and beginning the hard process of trying to convince his immune system to stop attacking it's own body. The next patient was a shinobi, who had broken his leg in several places. When Sakura began treating him, she realised that he hadn't just broken it, he had shattered it into small pieces of bone.

She used her chakra to pull the pieces closer together. He had already had an operation to put the bone back together, but the pieces had not healed, and were still very brittle. She advised him to drink as much milk as possible, or get as much calcium as possible to strengthen the bones.

Just as she was about to have a lunch break, another runner came to her, panting and saying that she needed to go to room 324, and then to the operating room.

Sakura ran, sprinting to the room and then walking through the door. The mess in front of her was horrible, a team of ANBU lay on the beds, blood everywhere. They were delirious, and had many wounds, deep cuts, all over their body. Several nurses and doctors were treating them, and then one of the doctors motioned for her to go over to them.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, her hand glowing with chakra and reaching out towards the man that the doctor was treating. The doctor knocked her hand away, telling her to save her chakra, before explaining that the team had been sent out on a mission, and that they came back with the deep wounds coming out of their own bodies.

The wounds were odd, because unlike normal wounds, they had been done so that the cut was coming from the inside of the flesh, and then making its way out. It was some type of freak genjutsu that also caused the ANBU to try and attack their own. The only reason that they weren't killed was because one of the ANBU members sent after the injured team recognised that they were trapped in a genjutsu.

Sakura took in all of the information, and then found herself being shooed away as fast as possible towards the emergency room. The white sterile walls had never seemed threatening to Sakura, but the rusty scent of blood that lingered in the air always did.

The smell of blood got stronger as Sakura sprinted towards the ER and then pushed through the doors, pulling on gloves.

"What can I do?" she asked, looking Shizune. The older medic told her to begin healing the woman on the far side of the room who had been the worst hit. The cuts on her kept coming up again, even when healed. After several tries, Sakura then realised what the problem was. They were all still partially conscious, and their brains and bodies were still under the influence of the genjutsu.

She told Shizune, and the two of them, working together used their chakra control to send quick, strong shots of chakra directly into the patients system, breaking the genjutsu. They then went back to work on healing the deepest cut, and restoring blood to the ANBU members.

It took at least two and half or more hours for them to finish their work, as the ANBU in the other room, who had been seen to, woke up, and were trapped under the genjutsu again, which seemed to only break when another person broke it for them.

Sakura stumbled out of the ER, and then went to her office, her hand stained with the ANBU's blood. Even the gloves hadn't been able to stop the red substance from staining through to her hands. The bright crimson was so strong, and Sakura tried to wash it off, but with not much success.

She was meant to have lunch break, but looking at her charts, she realised that it was time for her to treat Genma. Instead she settled for grabbing her lunch, and going to the room where she was meant to treat him.

Her hands still red; she opened the door to the room, and smiled at the caramel haired man sitting on the bed.

"Genma, how are you?"

He gave her a smirk back, his eyes roaming her nurse's outfit. "Much better now, thank you for asking."

She rolled her eyes. Genma was a flirt and a womaniser, but he was a good team mate, and it was a privilege to know him and to work with him. He was a weapons expert, and with the senbon that he had in his mouth, he could trap a moving fly against any surface, just using his mouth.

"So what is the problem?" she asked, her clipboard out, ready to write.

Genma coughed, looking embarrassed. "I took a couple of hits on a mission."

"What type of hits?"

"Painful ones."

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "Yes, I know that they would be painful, but I meant what type, as in, was it a cut? A bruise? Broken bone?"

"Ah…" Genma moved around uncomfortably. "Well, it's kind of a cut… and a bruise…"

"Where?"

"Umm…"

"Genma, if you say it is where I think it is, I will personally thank the person who did it."

"Hey!" Genma looked indignant, his expression slightly dejected and in pain. "Why do you say that? If it is where you think it is, why are you so happy about it?"

"Well, do you remember that girl that you… stayed with a couple of weeks ago?"

"The civilian?"

"Yes."

"Yes…?"

"Well, after you had her, she became very… talkative. So much so that most of the medics, including myself, wanted to punch her jaw off her face to try and stop her talking."

"Well, just because you feel jealous that she had someone like me…"

Sakura clicked her knuckles, barely keeping her temper. "No, no, and no. Hell no! she kept talking about how she had had a shinobi, and how shinobi weren't so tough as what they make out to be."

"Oh… I see. You are still jealous."

"NO!!! YOU ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING MAN!!!"

"Oh…"

"She talked our ears off, and then insulted us. After one too many barbed insults, the 'not so tough' shinobi taught her a lesson, but the point is, you. Owe. Us. Or rather, me." Sakura pointed her finger at him, stabbing him in the chest in emphasis of the last couple of words.

"Really, now." Genma looked thoughtful. "That's right. That girl was a talker wasn't she…"

"No shit Sherlock!!" Sakura rolled her eyes again.

"Oh, sorry about that…" Genma looked a little thoughtful and sheepish. "How about I make it up to you after you heal me."

"Deal."

Genma sighed in relief. He was no longer in danger of well, non fertility…

"How the hell did you get yourself injured there anyhow?" she asked, as she sat him down on the bed, and the placed her bare hands on his legs, her healing chakra travelling through his legs and to the place where the cut and bruising was.

"Well, it's kind of a long story."

"You'll have enough time, trust me."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews, and i hope all of you who have not reviewed, either will review, or have checked out the other stories that i have put out there...

here's the nest chappie

***

Sakura shook her head slowly, pursing her lips disapprovingly, before sitting back on her heels and frowning down at her patient. He was sitting on the examination table, all clothing intact, and healed to perfection.

The said patient looked up at her, his mischievous chocolate brown eyes innocent. "I told you it was a long story." He said, impishly grinning up at her, after telling her what had, unfortunately, happened to him.

Sakura just shook her head again, looking completely and utterly confused. She could not understand how stupid and thick men were sometimes. Especially when it came to woman.

"So, you met a woman at a bar one night, got to know her at bit better, then arranged to meet up with her again, saw her in the market, tried to go over to her, and then said the wrong thing, to the wrong woman, and got beaten up and hit in the jewels by an old lady, before disappearing out of the way."

Genma frowned, "No, not before the woman I was going to meet saw the whole thing. I don't think that she will be meeting me again after that embarrassing display."

Sakura leaned back against the counter and laughed for a while, ignoring the unamused look from her patient, then wiped the tears from her eyes. She walked over to the medical bench, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard as she went, and then filled them up with water. She gave one to Genma, and kept one for herself.

"I didn't need all the details of your time together by the way."

Genma gasped with mocking shock. "But I thought that you wanted the full story." He then grinned, inching out of the seat and towards the door. He knew what to say to get under the medic's skin, and he knew that he was the second best person at getting under her skin the fastest.

"Hm." Was all that she said.

He glanced out the door, his grin widening. "And I wanted to try and make you jealous. Are you jealous of her?" he dashed towards the door, not even waiting to see her face. He could imagine it perfectly fine.

"GENMA!!!"

The sound of smashing and flying objects hitting various walls and other things, and someone being put through pain, echoed through the corridors, as patients down the halls looked around curiously for the source of the racket. The nurses, on the other hand, just looked up and then went back to their work, used to their superior's temper.

A short time later, a small pink haired woman left the room looking thoroughly satisfied and slightly smug. She was followed by a handsome looking man with caramel hair. He was limping slightly as he complained to the woman in front.

"Sakura… you know I was only joking?" he limped, his puppy dog look and whimpering tone ignored.

"…Yes."

"Then why did you beat me up? Doctors are meant to help people, remember? No matter how many times I tell you that, you always seem to forget."

"Because I can choose to heal you after, while if I was someone else who you said that to, they wouldn't be able to help you and they wouldn't want to." She turned and smiled sweetly at the man. "Not to mention that if I didn't, you would never learn." She added, her smile changing and her face looking like that of a content and smug cat.

He smiled back, the same look on his face. "What if I didn't want to learn?"

"Too bad."

"You're sooooo mean Sakura-chan…" he whined, playing with the senbon that he had just popped into his mouth. He pushed open the heavy doors for her, in an odd show of courtesy. She swept through the doors, not even a thank you thrown his way. He did not deserve her thanks, according to his behaviour.

He trotted after her, not disconcerted by her anger at all. As most people who knew her, he was used to it. He waited for a reply, and got one after a short time of walking down the flights to the door.

Growling, she frowned at him, then threw her hands up in desperation. "I don't care, I just need to get lunch and talk to you, since you took up my lunch time with your story."

"But I told you it was-"

She grabbed his sleeve, and then began dragging the man out of the hospital entrance, nodding to the lady at the counter. Sayuki was long used to their banter and sudden departures. She also knew that Sakura would not just leave the hospital with out finishing her work, or for any random reason.

"See you later Sayuki-san, I am off to get lunch."

Sayuki smiled nicely at the pink haired medic, and tried not to blush when the attractive man with the senbon winked at her. She had had a crush on Genma since Sakura first brought him in, not that Sakura knew that.

"Bye Sakura-san, bye Genma-san."

The caramel haired man grinned, and laughed. "See you around Sayuki-chan."

Once the two got out of the white building, the pink haired woman turned to her companion and scolded at him.

"You are such a flirt!"

Genma only looked compensating into space. "She's cute…" he mused.

Sakura counted to ten in her head, realising that her friend was just trying to wind her up and push her buttons. She stalked into a small café and picked a table to sit at, not waiting for Genma to follow her. She never did wait. Curiosity killed the cat, and Genma was one cat that seemed to have more than the usual nine lives, especially when it came to curiosity about friends and forbidden woman.

Genma did, as she knew he would, follow her into the café. He looked for a split second through the crowd of people in the small, yet homely café, before spotting her bright hair, and going to her table. A pretty female waitress joined them, holding a notepad and looking at the caramel haired man hopefully.

"Can I get you anything?" her words had an obvious double meaning.

Sakura smiled, and then kicked Genma under the table.

"Ouch- oh, right. Um I'll have a cup of coffee thanks." He smiled dazzlingly at the waitress, and she at him.

Sakura rolled her eyes again. He could not go one second with out trying to attract female attention. She coughed lightly, before speaking up.

"I'll have a cheese toasted sandwich please, and a cup of coffee too, with chocolate topping. My friend here with have cinnamon on his." She deliberately added the friend part so that the girl would not be frustratingly spiteful to her, because that she thought that Sakura and Genma were going out.

The girl got the message, and smiled gratefully at Sakura, before whipping out a pen and returning her attention to the senbon sucking man. "So two coffees, one with cinnamon and one with chocolate."

"Yep."

"I'll be right back." The waitress promised, scooting off towards the kitchen.

"So…" Genma looked after the waitress, his eyes lingering on her, before turning back to his friend curiously. "What do you need to talk to me about?"

"Kakashi."

Genma's face became serious, and instantly his full and undivided attention was on her.

"What about him?"

Sakura looked down, feeling embarrassed and worried.

"I think I'm in love with him."

***

it was a bit rushed, and more spur of the moment, but now i have to try and think of what genma's reaction will be... and write the next chapter...

if you have any idea's of what you think should happen, feel free to tell me, and to review!!!


	7. Chapter 7

He he, gota love genma...

btw, he's going to be in the story alot more from now on...

***

SMASH!!!

The cups that the waitress had just put on the table were swept off the table, the coffee in the cups spilling as Sakura dived for the cups. With her fast reactions, she managed to catch the coffee, but the little saucers that they had been resting on had been smashed, sent flying to the floor by Genma's arms.

Genma had flailed, and then fell to the floor in surprise. His chair tipped and fell with him too, but luckily only the coffee had been served, and not Sakura's lunch, otherwise that would be on the floor too.

Sakura placed the coffee cups on the table carefully, and cautiously, trying not to make a noise as she placed them down. The whole café was looking at them with confusion, before she looked up at them with a weak smile. They took the cue to look back to their own tables and companions.

She avoided eye contact with Genma as she helped him up, and sat him down on his chair. He was still bemused, and looked at her with disbelief.

"You really mean that?" he asked, finally, after taking several gulps of his coffee and staring at her with incredulity. She nodded, and he sat back in his chair, contemplating.

After an even longer time he grinned, shaking his head slowly as he laughed.

"I could always see something happening with you two!!! You just needed to get over that Uchiha and he needed to get his ass into gear and take action." He snorted, adding an afterthought, "Of course, he would need to convince his stubborn mind to accept the fact that he loves you."

It was Sakura's turn to cough and splutter.

"What?!!! He loves me? But-" she was interrupted by Genma shaking his head violently, almost angrily.

"No, no." He frowned, an odd expression for the usually positive jounin. He then blew a strand of his long hair out of his face and shook his head again. "The stubborn ass does, but he doesn't realise it."

Sakura shook her head in confusion. "But if he doesn't know it, how do you…?"

"I knew it from one of the first missions I did with you two." Genma smiled, seeming lost in the memories. "Ah, it was there… the way he favoured you above Naruto and your other team mates, and sometimes the way that he looked at you, like a man seeing the light for the first time."

Sakura burst into laughed, almost not believing his words. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Oh… Okay…"

Genma got up, finishing his coffee in one last gulp. He winked at Sakura, saying as he left the table, "All you have to do is convince him. But good luck with that."

Sakura watched his retreating back, and thought over what information she had been told.

She now knew, or thought, from what Genma had said, that Kakashi did have feelings for her, but was unaware of them, or in denial. All she had to do was show him that she loved him, and prove to him that it wasn't just because of Sasuke that she was trying to be with him.

To be honest, Sakura didn't even understand how her wanting to be with him was related to Sasuke's rejection. It was not related, and Sakura knew that while she wanted comfort when she was hurt, she did not want that type of comfort. Her feelings just… happened. They popped out from the back of her mind where they had been hiding, and then tried to act on them.

But look how that turned out.

She nibbled on her toasted sandwich, thanking the waitress as she picked up the empty coffee cup that Genma had finished.

Sakura groaned, holding her head in her hands as she tried to figure out a way to make Kakashi SEE her. She had thought about just walking up to him, and talking to him about in private , but more than likely, he would use his jutsu to poof away, and leave her standing in the dust, or rather smoke.

She could ask some others for help, but most of them would either be weirded out by her liking her old sensei, or be no help at all. She could ask Shikamaru, as he did not form any opinions, other than everything being troublesome, and he was a genius and would be able to form some sort of plan that would work.

The only problem would be how to convince him to help her…

Inner Sakura jumped up and down in her head, a small light bulb flashing above her head.

'I have an idea…' Her inner was very excited.

'What?'

'We kidnap him!!!' Inner Sakura thought of Kakashi being tied up, and watching her as she walked around him, dressed in ANBU uniform, with a whip in hand.

'No.'

'Awwwww, please!!! It would be so much fun…' Another image popped up, this one of a Kakashi in chains, and waiting on Sakura, feeding her grapes, and massaging her back and body. He was dressed in slaves clothing, while Sakura was dressed like a queen.

'No.'

"Sakura, are you okay?" Yamato happened to be walking by the café when he saw the tell tale pink hair of one of his subordinates. She seemed to be deep in thought, and looked slightly pissed off.

Sakura started, looking at the man who had the same talents as the first Hokage. He had been her team leader for many missions, when Kakashi could not be there, but other than that, she knew little of the man who claimed to be called 'Yamato'.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine thanks… just a lot on my mind…"

Yamato smiled kindly at her. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

Sakura smiled, shaking her head. "No, but thanks anyway. My thoughts are problems that I need to deal with myself." Her voice was laced with gratitude. Then, as her mind kicked into gear, she remembered, "Actually, there is… do you know where Kakashi-senpai is at the moment?"

Yamato looked confused as to why she would be seeking out their superior, but answered anyway. "He will probably be reading somewhere, or at the memorial grounds. He likes to read up on the Hokage Mountain…"

Sakura grinned, eating the last bite of her toasted sandwich. "Thanks Yamato-senpai, I really appreciate it." She rolled her eyes, standing up from the table and joining the older shinobi to walk out the door. "Kakashi-senpai always knew how to hide from the world so he could read for hours and be late for everything."

Yamato laughed, smiling and agreeing with the kunoichi, even if he would never say it out loud, in case the Copy Nin heard him.

True to his reputation, Sakura could not find head, nor tail of the elusive, mysterious creature that was the Copy Nin.

She had searched for hours, climbing up to the top of the Hokage Mountain, and scaling back down it as well to try and find him in his reading spot, but to no success. She had gone to the memorial stone several times, in the hope that he would be there, but once again, there was no sign of him. She had even tried tracking his chakra signal, but he was a better tracker than she was, and knew how to hide himself, so that even his own specially trained tracking nin dogs could not find him.

She finally settled for eating at Ichiraku's ramen, and sat in the chair thinking. She had stopped back in at the hospital, to find that there was no need for her to be there, and that she was fine to go. Sitting in the chair, Sakura felt a little depressed, and unneeded.

"Yo."

A familiar voice reached her ears, as the chair next to her scraped out from the counter, and some sat in it. Sakura sat up straight, and glared at the silver haired man.

"And where do you think that you have been all day? Hiding away from the world with your precious book?" she asked, scowling at him, her eyes smouldering angrily.

Kakashi gulped under his mask, rubbing the back of his head nervously. Even though he could stop Sakura from hurting him quite easily, and even escape from the fiery kunoichi with ease, he did not like her being angry at him. Her temper was almost as legendary as her mentors, and she would seek justice, or what she thought was justice, till the edges of the world.

"Ha ha, funny thing…" he laughed nervously, before stopping his nervous actions as he realised something. "Wait, you were looking for me?"

She rolled her eyes, trying not to be too sarcastic, but failing obviously. "No, I have just been spending half the day asking various people if they had seen you, and walking around the village for a couple of hours because I felt like it."

"Oh, okay then." He went back to looking at people on the streets unfazed. He gave her a half a minute before she would explode.

It took less than that.

She scowled again, a little crease in between her pink eyebrows.

"Kakashi, you are absolutely-!!!" she took a deep breath and then shook her head, muttering under her breath. Thanks to Kakashi's extraordinary hearing, Kakashi heard every word that she said.

"God damn man… manages to get me so annoyed that I want to strangle him… especially when I have something to tell him…" Kakashi hid an amused grin, although, if Sakura had looked up and stopped glaring angrily at the stone that was sitting innocently on the ground, then she would have seen the tell tale crows eyes at the corner of his eye.

He waited till she had calmed down a bit, before talking to her again. "So why was it that you were looking for me? Other than just wanting to enjoy my intriguing company?"

She glared at him again, not bothering this time to mutter quietly her anger.

"You are the most infuriating, pain in the ass, stuck up, cocky, jerking asshole that I have ever had the displeasure top meet!!! You are so- ugh!" she turned and fisting her hands, went to walk away.

Kakashi chuckled, and using his fast speed, stood in front of her, causing her to walk into him, stopping her from escaping abruptly.

He, still chuckling, looked down into her fuming emerald eyes, and then grinned under his mask.

"I believe you wanted to tell me something?" he smiled, stopping with the teasing, sadly. It was amusing to watch her get anger, as long as Kakashi himself was out of hitting range. She always looked cute when frowning, and when she was angry, she had always reminded him of an outraged kitten.

She stopped glaring, and then looked into his eyes, trying to prepare herself to tell him. She wanted to tell him, and didn't care about the repercussions.

"Kakashi… I…-"

***

hehe... cliffhanger...

people: *throw plates, rubbish, even rotten food*

me:okay, okay!!! dont hurt me, please!!! I LIKE MY LIFE!!!! *wails*

next chapter is coming up, lik, me now, so don't kill me yet...

....

kill me after you read it...

review!!!!


	8. Chapter 8

Once again, love genma... he has good timing...

dont kill me till the end of the chapter... remember your promise!!! *wags finger at people*

***

"Sakura-chan! Kakashi!!!" Genma's voice got to them before the senbon user did. His voice brought Sakura back from the brink of hell, and the edge of cloud nine.

'Repercussions…' both her inner, and her more reasonable side remembered the thought of repercussions, and then, with those thoughts, Sakura found herself second doubting her plan to tell Kakashi the truth.

He deserved the truth.

But then again, he deserved more than her… she who had fallen in love with a man who broke her heart. She did not want to try and be with him, with her heart still burning, no matter how good it felt, and how real and unbroken she felt when she was with him.

She didn't want to lose his friendship… not over 'if's and 'but's. As her dad used to say, "If 'if's and 'but's were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day." So, Sakura continually thinking, 'But what if I…' or 'But Genma said…' then she would get nowhere, only stepping backwards and making up silly fantasies that did not exist.

She could live without being that way with him, she could live watching him marry and be happy with another woman. As long as he was there, she could live. She knew though, she could not live without him.

If she lost him, she could not forgive herself.

Genma came into view, and upon seeing Sakura standing face to face with the man that she loved, he grinned, and then clapped Kakashi on the back. "So cherry blossom? Did you tell him the good news?"

I could not live without him…

Sakura shook her head, and then choose.

Friendship over losing Kakashi.

She put on a fake smile, and then told him, "I made up with Sasuke today. We talked, and we have decided to start afresh. A clean slate as friends." Her heart wailed, screaming at her, telling her to be selfish. Begging her to reconsider, to turn to him, and then laugh, telling them that she was just having them on, and kissing the loyal team mate that she loved.

The look in Kakashi's eye was unreadable. Untouchable. Unbreakable.

So unlike her.

Genma looked confused, but did not say anything, or try anything, as he saw Sakura's pleading look, and the shake of her head.

"Congratulations." Kakashi spoke, after a somewhat awkward silence.

Sakura nodded, murmuring her thanks under her breath. She smiled, waving to both Kakashi and Genma as she walked away, trying to hide her disappointment and anger at her own cowardice. She tried, desperately to tell her self that she was doing the right thing, and then decided, as a last promise, that she would tell him someday, even if she was dead and had to do it.

When she got home, she would write a letter to him, and never send it, but keep it safe in her home for the day that she died to give it to him, and to tell him of her true feelings. They had crept up on her, and taken her by storm, literally, but it was too sudden for her to go and just tell him. He was a reserved man, and she had been blessed enough to call him a friends. Nothing would let her lose that friendship.

Nothing.

Kakashi felt his heart throb, as he watched the pink haired woman walk away from him. She had said nothing of what had happened, not a word. He had thought that she was going to, but then she mentioned Sasuke… in an indirect way, she had said something of what had happened the night before.

Good news… Sasuke…

Kakashi gave Genma a fake smile under his mask, and then, waving a hand walked away from the senbon sucking shinobi, missing the look of utter confusion and frustration on the man's face, and the one word that he muttered under his breath.

"Fools…"

Kakashi thought as he walked, pretending to read his book. He wasn't really a pervert, or not in the normal sense of the word. He found comfort in the orange covered books, yes, but not for the reasons that most men.

They were like his mask. A façade to hide behind. Like his slouch, and messy hair. Like the hidate that he pulled over the sharingan. Like his empty apartment, bare of anything but the essential furniture and the two photos on his bedside table.

Like his life.

He knew that he loved Sakura, but he could not be with her. There were so many factors, countless ones that stopped them from being together.

Their age difference. The scary woman who called Sakura her adopted daughter. The taboo between student and teacher. Her team mates, friends, and family. The shinobi community, and the civilian community.

And the curse that seemed to hunt after Kakashi, like a hungry and dangerous wolf.

The only other photo that Kakashi had hiding in his apartment was one of a beautiful dark eyed, raven haired woman, and a tall good looking silver haired man. His parents.

Of course, there was also a small two or three year old boy in the photo, smiling and giggling with mirth at the camera, his silver hair reflecting that of the man in the photo. Himself. Or what he used to be, until he grew older, and became stronger.

Until his father killed himself, in the wake of disgrace, in a time where war was boiling over, and the shinobi of the village were killing and being killed. When the survival of team mates, were nowhere near as important as the completion of a mission, particularly a mission which involved countless lives. Until his mother killed herself, cutting her wrists, and sinking into the warm embrace of death in a bath of her own blood and water. If the blood loss hadn't killed her, then the water that drowned her did.

The carefree, joking and happy youngster had been lost, and a shell of a broken man had been born. Kakashi was broken goods, anyone who touched him, or came close to his heart was killed. Father, Mother, Obito, Sensei, Rin, Asuma, and the countless others, whose name he did not know, but who he had tried to save and failed.

If Sakura got too close to him, she would die.

She would be next.

***

doom and gloom there much!!! ;)

but at least i have some idea of the plot now... it was rather vague before... but now it is going somewhere!

okay, now you can kill me... and not find out what happens next... MUH HA HA HA!!!

read and review, i beg you. there has been 162 visitors to this story since i have put it up, but so far i have gotten only three visitors reviewing...

(btw, the visitors means no. of people who have visited my story overall, but if someone looks at it on tuesday, then again on wednesday, they would count as two visitors. but if they visit twice on tuesday, instead of tuesday and wednesday, they would only count as one...)


	9. Chapter 9

this chapter gets a little confusing here, so bere with me here...

btw, this story is a bit like that of romeo and juliet; a lot happens in a short space of time... this chapter is set two nights, almost three, after the Hyuuga party.

***

A long term mission.

Time to get away from him, time to think, and get things back into order.

The temptations flittered through Sakura's mind as she pulled out the paper slowly, and wet the ink brush, the dark colour flooding the redish brown of the brush. She sat in her office, looking out of her window, and down into the streets and hospital doors. Her day the day before had been…

She sighed, looking back at the clean unblemished white paper.

A simple thing paper. Very useful too. Good to write on, and to store knowledge in. It's colour is pure. Untouched.

A dark charcoal eye came to mind.

She ran a hand through her pink hair, trying to get her thoughts in order.

'No.' she decided. 'I will not run. I will not hide.'

'But you will not be honest either.' Her inner sighed, strangely subdued.

'…'

'Can you see Kakashi running from anything in fear?' her inner asked, gaining some strength, to try and banish thoughts of leaving to Suna for some medical reasons.

'…No…'

'Exactly. Try and be good enough for him, or at least, good enough to be his friend.'

The brush came down upon the paper in soft smooth, unhurried strokes, full of emotion and conviction.

'Kakashi…'

Long term mission.

Dangerous.

S-classed.

Akatsuki.

Six months.

Perfect.

Sakura finished her letter, and sealed it into an envelope, moving out of her office as she looked out into the dying sunset. She locked the door behind her, and then walked down the empty corridors, even the white painted walls not looking lighter in the dark, but seeming colder, and feeling like they were closing in on her.

Trapping her.

She walked down the empty streets, listening to bar patrons laughing and singing loudly.

Her friend Ino was standing in one of the bars, smiling and singing with Kiba, as he subtly kissed her mouth, or tried to be subtle. There was nothing smooth in his drunk exterior, nor in his sloppy kiss on the blonde's mouth.

"Sakura!!! Com' jon us!!!" Naruto's drunken shout tempted Sakura to walking into the bar, smiling as she took a seat next to her blonde friends, and joined their laughing fun. Never mind the fact that she was in her medic uniform still. Never mind the look that the men in the bar were giving her. Never mind Sasuke, blinking at the little badge on her chest that told him her high position in the hospital.

Never mind the invisible man standing on the top of the roof across the street, his silver hair standing out like a beacon in his dark ANBU clothing.

Never mind the pack on his back, and the wave he gave his age group friends as he shouldered the pack, and darted into the night.

***

Dizzy, and still under the lingering effects of the alcohol, and crushed by the horrible hangover that she had, Sakura pulled herself out of bed, getting an unneeded glimpse of herself in the mirror. She thought that the glass was going to crack in the face of… well, her face.

She looked like a vampire. And a not very good looking one at that. Pale, washed out skin, dark and haunted eyes. The dark shadows under her eyes, and bags along side them, didn't really suit her, and neither did the frizzy hairstyle look, like she had just gotten out of bed. Which she had.

She groaned, moving slowly to her bathroom, and to her medicine cabinet for aspirin.

One tablet…

Two tablets. A gloved hand threw back the tablets, washing them down with a gulp of water from the stream.

Kakashi was tired, especially after travelling that far in one night. The pain killers were badly needed. He had pushed himself to the limit, trying to get to his destination as fast as possible. The Akatsuki were nearby, and all that Kakashi had to do was follow them, and keep track of their bases with him and his hounds.

It was a lot harder than it sounded.

'Things are so much easier on paper.' He thought, thinking back to the mission scroll, and his precious 'adult' romance book.

He looked into the water, and at his reflection, then, scooping his hands into the stream and bringing them to his face-

Splashing the water all over her face.

The woman in the mirror looked better now, and the aspirin were kicking in too. The pounding headache was fading, dulling to a faint ache at the back of her brain, much like her thoughts of Kakashi. She wondered what he was doing, and where he was.

'Probably late for a meeting with Tsunade.' She chuckled, imagining the angry look on her shishou's face as the copy nin appeared out of nowhere, waving his hand lazily, with his normal greeting of 'Yo'.

Out the door she went, leaving to go to work-

Walking straight into Sasuke.

"Why is it that I keep bumping into you?" she asked him, grinning at his face, and pushing him backwards out of her way, as she shifted and turned around in the limited amount of space to lock her door behind her.

"Maybe it's because you have other thoughts on your mind." Sasuke commented, moving out of her way, and walking down the steps next to her.

'Duh!!! What are you, blind not to notice that?!!!' her inner raved, smacking her head on an imaginary wall. 'Thank you Captain Obvious!'

"Hmm…" Sakura made a noncommittal noise, before seeing the blond at the bottom of her steps waiting for her.

'It must be that time again for a team mission…' Inner Sakura thought, brightening up at the thought of seeing Kakashi again so soon.

"Baa-chan wants to see us!!!" Naruto's grin spread from ear to ear, but that was common enough. They were all excited for a mission. Especially an ANBU mission, now that their whole team was allowed to do ANBU missions. Even Sasuke, who was not yet in ANBU, but had applied for it, was allowed to go on the mission, considering his position as the last holder of the Sharingan.

"Team Kakashi mission, HERE WE COME!!!"

***

"What!!!???"

The shout came from three people, or more a quiet, yet angry voice joining the another two.

"Kakashi is already on a mission at the moment, and it is a long term one, so Yamato will be your team leader for the mean time." Tsunade looked at the disappointed faces in front of her, and rolled her eyes at the ANBU captain standing nearest to her desk.

"Come on, I'm sure I'm not that bad…" Yamato pleaded, trying to hide the slightly hurt feelings he had, and trying to cheer the three younger shinobi up.

"How long is Kakashi's mission meant to last?"

Surprisingly, the question came from the Uchiha prodigy. His voice was quiet still, but held some authority to it, losing most of the arrogance that the man used to have. He had changed, more than anyone would know.

Sakura looked shocked. She was going to ask the exact question, but had been beaten to it. She felt devastated, that her hopes had been crushed. 'So much for spending time with the whole of Team Kakashi…'

'What is Team Kakashi, without the Kakashi?' her inner grumbled, growling at the fates who had changed her destiny.

"Six months."

"Six MONTHS!!!"

***

hehe... kakashi's gone for six months... dont kill me for that... Sakura has some things to do, that do not involve kakashi at the moment...

sakura will be very disappointed with kakashi... she had not taken a long term mission, in the thoughts that kakashi would not if he were in her shoes, which might i add, he basically is... tut tut kakashi...

kakashi: HEY! i was a confused male! i would prefer to think with my head not my-

me, interupts: okay, okay kakashi... we get what you mean... geeezzz... now be good and get back into the box.

read and review... i need it. boredom is getting to me...


	10. Chapter 10

sorry about the randomness of the last chapter... as i said, ive been bored...

this chapter was inspired by the song, wild horses, sung by Natasha Bedingfield

AN (really really nice song...)

***

'Six months…' Sakura thought, kicking a loose tile in the ground along in front of her as she walked along the corridors to her office. The walls, once again, felt like they were closing in, trapping her into a life that she did not want… she did not want Kakashi to be gone… that was her one thought when she decided not to tell him her feelings.

She sat in her chair, playing with the letter that sat on her desk, addressed to the man of her thoughts. The four walls around closed in even more, making her feel worse. She looked to the window, for some bright side of things, and to her dismay, saw Naruto walking out of the hospital door, Hinata on his arm as he fussed over her. Even Sasuke was with someone, the dark haired girl from the party.

They all had taken the risks and gotten someone else in their lives. She pressed her face up against the glass, and felt like she was looking out on to other peoples more happier lives. Or at least, happier love lives.

'Is this my life? Is this the bed I choose to make?' she was wondering, thinking over the offers for dates that she had had over the years, and all of the times that she had refused them. She had a chance to bring herself happiness, and to create a good life for herself, but she had passed up on it. It had happened so fast…

'How do I turn this thing around? It's greener pastures that I'm thinking about…' she thought, beginning some Kami up above her to help her. How could he run away? That was the whole reason she did not run away, and head for the hills. Because she wanted to braver than that, and more like him, even if it meant giving up the thoughts of wide open spaces far away.

She got up from her office, stowing the letter in her desk, and escaping to the training grounds.

She ran through the trees, the wind in her hair, blowing it around crazily as she zipped through the branches, leaping and twisting, before stopping in front of the training field, her eyes dry.

Sasuke was training there, his girl watching him, her face lit up with happiness and admiration. Odd for a Sasuke fan girl… normal they would be drooling and looking at him with something akin to adoration, or hunger… or even lust. But she didn't look like a fan girl.

Sakura grinned, knowing how to get rid of her frustration, and Sasuke's too.

"You want a spar?" she stepped out of the trees, keeping her eyes on Sasuke's face, then turning and smiling kindly at the girl on the side lines.

Sasuke smirked, nodding, and then motioning for her to bring it on.

She grinned, smashing her fist to the ground in her normal opening move. The ground cracked, shooting towards Sasuke. He dodged it, his sharingan glinting red in the light. He had activated it when he saw the ground opening before him. He had not know that that was how Sakura had demolished the training grounds, but he knew now that she was highly dangerous. One single hit could knock him out, with seeming less effort.

He dodged, his hands blurring to the normal civilian eye, as he preformed hand signs to his favourite jutsu.

"Fireball jutsu!!!"

The flaming balls flew at the kunoichi, who grinned, leaping in the air to dodge the first couple, and then using a substitution jutsu when the kunai hidden in the flames shot towards her, piercing the logs used for her jutsu, and poofing away.

She appeared out of nowhere, her own hands making movements as she set a genjutsu on Sasuke. He smirked, dispelling it easily before chuckling, ready to gloat about the uses of the sharingan. Sakura, however, was not where she had been, and had already hidden somewhere in the foliage surrounding the training area.

She used her famous punching technique, but with more charka control than normal, changing the normal attack into a type of chakra control jutsu. Her hands were placed on the tree's branch, as she spread it, subtly through the tree and into the ground.

There was always a chance with this jutsu that Sasuke could turn around and see the chakra, but Sakura's control over it stopped that possibility. Her chakra moved steadily, until it reached the Uchiha. It then acted much like how a volcano does, exploding in a split second, spitting debris as it went.

The Uchiha had not seen the attack coming, but reacted quickly, using a speed jutsu that he had learnt off the copy nin to try and go to Sakura's position, but unfortunately, for him, her chakra was too well hidden, even for his sharingan.

His movement set off a number of traps that a clone of Sakura had set up, but of course, none of them hit the man. The clone watched from a tree, laughing under her breath at her team mate. As down as the real Sakura was from Kakashi's departure, she enjoyed watching Sasuke's opinion of her grow.

Anyway, Sakura was patient when it came to love, as she had shown with Sasuke. If she had waited years for Sasuke, she was sure that she could wait a half a year for Kakashi. She needed the time anyway to prepare herself for her plan.

Lost in thought, Sakura did not notice that Sasuke had engaged with her clone, only when her clone disappeared and Sakura gained all of it's memories that she realised what was happening.

She swore softly, flitting through the trees as fast as she could. She had a couple of other aces up her sleeves, but this was only a minor card game, and Sakura had no aspirations of letting everyone know what she could do, and was fine with them underestimating her. As annoying as it was to underestimated, she could live with it, knowing that it let her have an advantage against everyone else and her opponents. Much like her insane superhuman strength compared to her small, petite, even weak looking frame.

She felt a person behind her, and swore again, and in a burst of chakra leap to the tops of the trees, knowing that her smaller weight would make it easier for her to manoeuvre in the thinner branches of the trees. She grinned when she heard the larger body follow her, and then the snapping of branches and a male voice swearing. Sakura leapt across the thin trees, laughing out loud as she heard Sasuke using his sharingan to run across trees. He did need it though.

They made it back to the field, where Sakura leap down, spinning and setting the jutsu that she had been preparing.

"Mine field no jutsu!!!" she shouted, her hands finishing the last of the signs that she had already been doing in the trees. Sasuke could not copy the jutsu, because he had been too busy using the sharingan in the trees to notice her hand signs. He landed firmly on the ground, his eyes wary, before becoming shocked, and leaping in the air and away from the spot that he had previously been standing.

The spot immediately blew up, like one of Sakura's punches, as did the next spot that Sasuke landed on. The mines would continue to blow up, until Sakura wanted them to stop. The jutsu was one that connected all of Sakura's chakra to each blade of leaf or grass. As soon as the blade was touched by anyone other than herself, it would release the chakra in a brief explosion, and then gain the chakra back slowly.

If Sakura were to try and explain the jutsu, she would say that it was a bit like a chakra sonar in the way that her chakra worked, mapping out the ground and who ever stood on it.

She waited until the moment was right just before Sasuke landed on the ground, she pounced, throwing herself into the space above him, so that he could not jump into the air and away from the explosion. He was hit by the chakra, and Sakura stopped the jutsu, feeling a cold metal at her gut.

Sasuke smirked, his kunai at a death spot.

"Checkmate."

She laughed, her hands in the air to admit defeat. The adrenaline was still pounding through her veins as she shook hands with him. "That was a good spar."

He nodded, still smirking at her defeat. He walked over to the girl that was waiting for him, and then Sakura noticed that she had an audience.

Perfect.

A caramel haired man stood on the edge of the field, his hand raised in greeting, as he sauntered forward, along with a red eyed lady and a scary looking kunoichi who Sakura recognised from her first chunnin exam in the Forest of Death.

Genma, Kurenai, and Anko congratulated her on her fight, asking questions about her techniques, until Genma raised his eyebrow at her questionably.

"So did you end up telling him?" he asked, Sakura knowing immediately what he was talking about. The other two jounin looked on curiously.

"No." she answered shortly, looking at the ground in shame.

"Why not?" Genma looked even more surprised by the answer than before. "You didn't chicken out, did you?"

Sakura gave a feral grin, hiding her anger and sorrow behind it. "Yes Genma," the sarcasm in her voice was obvious. "I chickened out because I was afraid to tell him, and because you turned up before I forced myself to tell him. I seized the chance, and ran away."

"Damn right you did." Sakura scowled at his blatant statement of fact. "But I want to know why? You seemed perfectly fine telling me."

The other two kunoichi, still not in the link, looked at each other, exchanging confused glances, silently asking if the other knew what was going on.

"Because I did not want to lose his friendship. I would rather have that any day than try to admit my feelings and lose it in the process."

Genma laughed, looking at the smaller kunoichi curiously. "So you would rather have his friendship, and wonder for the rest of your life what would have happened if you have seized the bull by the horns, and seized the day, than lose that friendship?"

"Well…" Sakura looked like she was about to cry, and then hardened herself. "When you put it that way… Yes."

"Chicken!"

"But I did not say that I would do nothing now, did I?"

Genma's curiosity peaked. "Okay, now you have got me. Tell me, what are you planning that involves us three?"

Sakura grinned, looking at the other two smugly.

"You want to know my plan?"

"Yes!" Genma exclaimed, gritting his teeth angrily. "God woman, what do I have to do to tell you any more plainly that you have gotten me curious, Kami!"

Anko growled, her hand flashing out to grasp Sakura's.

"But first, tell us what the hell you two are talking about!!!" she demanded, Kurenai frowning next to her, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Well… three nights ago, when there was the Hyuuga party, Sasuke-"

"Don't tell me you still like that prick of an Uchiha?" Anko interrupted.

"No, this story is about another man, one that both you and I call friend… and pervert…" Sakura grinned, knowing exactly how to tempt the vicious snake kunoichi into helping her.

Genma grinned, already getting an idea of what the pink haired kunoichi was planning, if she needed the two female friends of the silver haired shinobi. 'Kakashi my friend…' he thought, smirking and bouncing the senbon in his mouth mischievously, 'You are doomed when you get your inflexible ass back from that mission…'

He looked at the pink haired kunoichi and her grinning companions, thinking happily.

'Sakura is one persistent woman. She won't give up so easily…'

***

hehe... told you that Sakura had some things that she needed to do with kakashi away... sakura is smart. *nods strongly in agreement*

lets see who can figure out the plan first, shall we? review to tell me what you think it is...


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry, this chapter does not have an of my normal, standard detail and story… it is more of a fast forwarded chapter of a month in Naruto-world… it would be wayyyyyy to much writing to write every single day as I have been for the past chapters… I would never get to the end of this story if I did it that way;

I would have been long dead by then. Not to mention have lost complete and all interest in this story before I died.

BTW Kakashi's little parts of the story are all set before the Sakura parts… the Sakura parts are only catching up to Kakashi's mindless, boring, never ending routine of a torture mission.

His words, not mine…

***

Sakura smiled as she entered the gate to Konoha. The guards smiled and let them through, joking with Yamato and laughing at the blond knuckle head that sprinted through past them without stopping, in desperation to get ramen to quiet his rather raucous complaining stomach.

The team mission that Team Yamato went on was fairly simple. Just another recon mission on a gang in the busy Land of Tea. The gangs there had been fairly active in the past months, and there had been some recent deaths there too. But nothing that their team couldn't handle.

The deaths were not related to the gangs, as they found out, but there was a drug problem in the gangs, and it had been pulling in more and more people into the underworld fights between groups. The drug was a strong hallucinogen, designed by a local drug making factory to hook people onto it, fast, as in the first time that someone tried it they were addicted and needed more of it regularly. It was another ploy to make more money.

Their team got hold of the drugs, and sent the drug factory owner into the local prison. Of course, he would get out, with all the contacts that he had, but he would find it hard to try and start up another operation like the one that he had had in Tea.

Sakura had healed and burnt the drugs out of the addicts systems, and sent them to a type of rehabilitation program, hoping that they would be over the drug within a year.

She sighed as she waved goodbye to the team, ignoring Sasuke's sharp eyes and the scrutinizing look he gave her as she glanced in the direction of Kakashi's apartment. One week. One week was all that it had taken for them to complete their mission. It should have taken at least a month for any other team, but it was Team Kaka- Yamato that they were talking about.

She walked into her apartment, collapsing on her leaf patterned bed, and looking forlornly at the letter sitting on her bedside table. The ink on the front was neat, and dried, the letter looking only a bit battered as Sakura had had to hide it when she smuggled it home to stop people from seeing it and asking about it.

She thought about the man that it was addressed to, and found herself wishing that he was their with them. She did not know what to do while he was away, but luckily it was out of her hands, and in the hands of two very capable kunoichi.

After all, life went on, although Kakashi was much missed.

***

The Akatsuki were biding their time, or so it seemed. They had not been doing many illegal things and had hidden themselves well. So well in fact, that Kakashi was having trouble keeping an eye on them.

He had been hiding out in Rain, where they were rumoured to have their main base. But of course, it could be just that; a rumour.

True to its name, the Rain country was wet, and miserable for the silver haired jounin, as much as he liked the rain. There was only so much water and mud that a man could take, and the constant downpour and depressing overcast sky were getting his spirits down, and reminding him of things that he would have rather left alone.

A lone eye glared at the offending sky, cold and dark as he was left alone with his thoughts and memories. His soaking wet hair and dirty damp clothes represented how he was feeling, as he stared out between his dripping silver locks under the shelter of a tree. Even his favourite past time was ruined, his precious book having being wore out and damaged by the journey through the bad conditions.

'Five months, two days, four hours and fifty six more minutes of this torture.' He thought, brushing wet mud off of his pack and waiting for the short storm to pass.

The thunderstorm was not safe enough to travel through. The first time he had experienced one, Kakashi had kept travelling, and had almost been killed… by a tree. A sad way to go for the famous Copy Nin, who had learnt over a thousand jutsu and killed many S-class criminals. He had learnt from his experience though.

Never trust trees that are not in the Fire Countries boundaries.

***

A month had passed by since Kakashi's departure. The days passed fast for her, as in between missions and hospital duty she joined the other two woman on their 'lessons' and 'planning'. They became close friends, Kurenai being a lovely, genuine person who understood the problems that Sakura was going through after her hidden relationship with the dead Sarutobi, Asuma, one of her and Kakashi's close friends. Anko, despite being a loud, violent and somewhat, twisted person, was also a good friend to Sakura, her blunt words holding nothing but the truth… and some other unnecessary details.

Sakura's meetings with the older woman were arranged at various places, the bath house, cafés, bars, and on the training field. They worked on many things at these places, battle techniques on the training field, the art of seduction at the bars and cafes, and beauty tips, local gossip, and stories of past missions at the bath house. Their knowledge was priceless, especially for the young pink haired woman, who had asked for their teaching in the first place.

Her mind wandered often though, as much as she tried not to let it. A certain silver haired jounin was always in her mind, and she found herself wondering whether what she was doing would actually help her. Her plan was simple; seduction.

She would learn as much as she could about men, and the arts of using her feminine wiles against the other sex. She would listen to stories about the Copy Nin, and, added to her own experiences with the man, would get to know her prey, learn how he thought, and his normal habits… although there was not much else for her to learn about his habits. His lateness, and perverted nature were well known through out the village.

She would preen herself, making her beauty even more noticeable and, like a geisha, learn how to use those traits that females had, to make any man do her will. Ino heard about the plan, and volunteered to help, not knowing who the lucky, or not so lucky, man was.

At the bath house, Kurenai told her about the missions that Kakashi had done, and what each individual one had done to the man. She mentioned a man called Obito, a name that Sakura had heard and seen somewhere before.

Kurenai refused to tell Sakura too much, because it was Kakashi's story, and his private business to how much he would tell her. She only gave the bare outlines.

Uchiha Obito was one of Kakashi's closest friends. One that was dead though, and gave his life to save Kakashi's and to teach him an important lesson. It was not until after the Uchiha's death, and sacrifice, that Kakashi changed his ways, and gained the sharingan eye.

Anko told more… detailed tales, mostly about the moves and fights that the Copy Nin had had, and the woman that he had been with. As much as she did not seem like the girly gossip type, Anko loved to hear and dish out gossip, so with her and Ino combined, Sakura learnt all of the gossip about the Copy Nin… and how he was meant to be an amazing lover, and great under the sheets.

Her knowledge was wide, and Sakura found that she enjoyed learning all of the things that she was being told. Her mother had died of illness not long after she was made a gennin, and her father followed several years later, murdered on a trading journey as a merchant.

She had never been taught the kind of stuff that Kurenai and Anko were teaching her, as they were never taught in the ninja academy about seduction, and Sakura had never been interested in those types of missions in ANBU. She had always been the medic for dangerous missions, or helped the ANBU Interrogation unit with her skills.

She had been helping out the Interrogation unit more and more. Ibiki had requested her several times to be put on one of his specially formed teams, but Tsunade had not been happy by the request, and had refused to let her 'top medic go on foolish, and often fatal wild goose chases'. The Hokage was not very fond of the work that the scarred ANBU veteran did, and was not shy of letting him know so.

The last argument that they had had was over a highly dangerous mission that Ibiki had wanted Sakura for. The Hokage had declined Ibiki's request to let the pink haired kunoichi go on the mission, and was still muttering under her breath angrily about the man's arrogance.

***Flashback***

"To try and steal my top medic from her work in the hospital!!!" Tsunade fumed, stalking around her office like a trapped lioness. "The self appointed prick!!! To think that I would actually let her go on one of his damned psychologically destroying missions-"

"But Lady Hokage-" Shizune tried to calm the blond haired woman, but only to be cut off and dismissed with a wave of the hand.

"If I let him have her for even one mission, he will ruin her, and convince her to work for him on all of his damn missions!!! Then I will lose my top medic. It is unacceptable-"

"But Lady Tsunade-"

"Grrrrr, stupid prick-"

"The work that the Interrogation unit does for Konoha is necessary, and the request to have a skilled medic that knows how to fight well and has exceptional chakra control would be a good asset to the unit-"

The Hokage slammed her hand onto the desk, snarling and growling her displeasure, and glaring at Sakura, who had been standing shell shocked, at the door. She had over heard the Hokage shouting at Ibiki before he left her office, and had heard her name being screamed.

Thinking that her old master had wanted her, Sakura had gone to the door to the Hokage's office, only to open it, and dodge a flying vase, aimed for the scarred man leaving the room. Ibiki had grinned at her, in his creepy half grimace twist of the mouth, shaking her hand and telling her that he was looking forward to her working for him in the sometime future.

If Sakura had not been shocked by that, then she definitely would have been stunned by the shouting and growling of the blond woman in front of her. It was an honour to be asked to work for the Interrogation unit, and the ANBU squads that worked under Ibiki.

He only had the best.

***Flashback End***

Ibiki had not given up, if anything, he was even more persistent in his badgering of the Hokage, more and more ANBU members being sent to the Hokage Tower to give the Slug Sannin a formal request for the usage of Haruno Sakura, ANBU member 2846.

As Sakura trudged her way to the bottom of the stairs of the Hokage Tower, she wondered if he had finally succeeded. She glared up at the endless flight of stairs, knowing that at the top of them, down a hall, and through two heavy mahogany doors, waited for her a terror of a woman, more than likely in a furious storm of a mood, that was pure torture, undeserved by anyone but the most horrible of people.

That is, if Sakura was right in her hypothesis of Ibiki's request being granted.

***

A lone charcoal eye watched as ANBU members from his own Leaf Village passed through the trees, moving as quietly and stealthily as what Kakashi was. He had not seen many passing through, as the Hokage had deemed the Rain country unsafe, almost a Rouge Country in a way. She was only trying to make the mission easier for him.

It was late, or early, depending on what your opinion was. The sky was still dark, but even if it the first rays of light had been peeking over the horizon, you would not get to see it in the dreary weather of the Rain Country.

He mentally sighed again, turning his attention back to the ANBU.

The figures of the obviously well trained and extremely high level ANBU were still eyed enviously. Not for the first time in two months did Kakashi wonder whether he had done the right thing by taking the mission. A small part of his mind had been whispering treacherously to himself, telling him that he had been a coward, and the worse type of friend to leave his home and abandon his friends to go on this stupid, frustrating, torture of a mission.

He missed all of his friends. As much as he was a 'lone wolf', Kakashi did like the odd company, instead of sitting in mud, dirt, leaves and rain by himself for two months, watching for something that never happened.

He was especially missing a certain rosette kunoichi, one who he had fled from, and left behind.

Too bad the famous Copy Nin turned back to his mission at the wrong time. He turned to glance after the long gone ANBU members, wondering if he would have recognised any of the masks. But then he remembered that they were blank masks, and let his hopes die. He knew nobody in Ibiki's classified squads.

But the flash of pink hair under an ANBU hood had passed by when he had not been looking, and was unseen by the silver haired man.

***

He he… can anyone guess what happens next? It could get pretty cliché…

For a single chapter

Read and review people… it makes me more inclined to put in effort and get the next chapter out sooner… the fast the chapters get out, the faster I get them all wrote, and the less time you have to wait!


	12. Chapter 12

This one will be just to catch up with Kakashi's time… although it hasn't yet. It is mostly background info…

Hehe… hope you like it, it will get more interesting by the next chapter, I promise!

***

One step.

Two step.

Three step.

"Hurry it up Haruno! We don't want to be the one on the receiving end of the Hokage's mood!!!"

The chunnin laughed at her dejected expression. Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were known as 'the Hokage's errand boys'. They were the one to go and fetch her, Izumo being the more responsible of the two, had been the one to warn her that the Hokage was in a furiously black mood.

It was Kotetsu who told her to hurry it up.

Sakura groaned, waving a hand and muttering under her breath, "Yeah, yeah. Save yourselves, throw me to the lions why don't ya…"

They watched her put her hands on the heavy doors, then pause, and listen to what noises could be heard from inside the office. Smashing and crashes could be heard, as well as angry muttering and growling. Sakura smiled at the two chunnin, grinning hopefully.

"At least there is no shouting?" the chunnin nodded, agreeing with her.

The door opened, and Shizune stepped out, breathing a sigh of relief as she made it out of the office. She shook her head at Sakura, her expression downcast. Shizune had been trapped in there while the Hokage raged, and, as per normal, had to try and calm the enraged blond down.

"Yes, the shouting seems to be over… for now."

Sakura sighed as well, before putting her hands on the door and looking to the heavens pleadingly. Kotetsu grinned, mock saluting her, while his partner gave her the thumbs up. Shizune just rolled her eyes at the immature chunnin, and wished Sakura good luck, winking secretively.

Sakura opened the heavy doors, pushing them slowly, before peeking her head in to see if the coast was clear. The Hokage was still muttering and growling, but was not pacing anymore, and was not throwing things either. Tsunade looked up briefly, before waving Sakura in.

"Hurry up Sakura. I don't have all day you know, I am very busy."

She moved into the office, shuffling her feet nervously, and biting her lip. She wanted to be told that she was able to join Ibiki's teams, if she wanted, but was also scared of it. Although Sakura had done many dangerous and mentally challenging missions, Ibiki's were meant to be the worst… even Tsunade had said that to her. They were missions like those of the special Hunter nin.

The Hunter nin were trained to hunt down missing nin and 'take care of them'. When missing nin leave a hidden village, they often carry many secrets of their village in their body, whether they know it or not. It could be a kekkei genkai or a special jutsu that they know, or it could be a medical technique that was used on them. If a shinobi from another village got hold of the body, and learnt the classified information and techniques, then it would put the village in danger. That is where the Hunter nin come in and destroy the body and the secrets with in it. They leave no traces of the body, and are there and gone before anyone else knows.

"Sakura."

Tsunade's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Morino Ibiki has requested you to work with his specialised ANBU teams on elite classified missions. These missions will be more dangerous, even more so than normal ANBU missions, and once you accept to be a part of his squads, you must do exactly as he says, and complete all missions that he gives you, without complaint."

Tsunade's piercing look made Sakura wonder what her shishou was thinking, before she realised the complications of accepting to be a part of Ibiki's squad. In ANBU, kunoichi could refuse missions of certain natures. But if Sakura choose to accept Ibiki's request, then she would not be able to refuse those types of missions. She would have to do them.

"Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded, accepting it. She had wanted to become a top shinobi, and if her superiors thought that she could do better than just ANBU, then she knew that she could.

And would.

"Yes. I accept."

***

Her first mission was a very short term one, like a one shot mission. She was sent with her partner, another one of Ibiki's ANBU members, to hunt down a prisoner who was being transported to Konoha from Suna.

The Sand shinobi had underestimated the prisoner, and he had escaped. The prisoner was dangerous, a very high S-class criminal, and possessed a special kekkei genkai that Ibiki wanted to try out and learn about.

The mission was simple on paper, but a lot harder than what she had thought. The criminal put up a good fight, and injured them quite badly before being caught. Sakura healed their worse wounds easily, as her partner did most of the work and grunt fighting. She was only their as a backup, and to heal injuries. As with most medics, she was required to step back from the fighting and only use long range attacks and conserve chakra for healing.

***Flashback***

"STAY back Wildcat-san!!!" her partner shouted, when he got injured.

He was bleeding badly, and Sakura recognised that if he kept fighting in that state, he would faint of blood lose before they could catch or defend themselves from the criminal that they were after.

Sakura ignored him, punching her fist into the ground, and smashing the ground up in front of her bear masked partner. She crouched down, taking the time that the distraction gave her to quickly knit up the wound and stop the blood flow. She could heal the rest of it later, but first she had to protect him from the immediate danger.

He told her off, ordering her to use her weapons as her attack instead of her chakra. She did as he asked, and noted to herself to ask TenTen to give her some training before her next mission. The criminal fell to the ground, finally hit by one of Sakura's well aimed senbon, and knocked out by her partners punch.

She pulled him to the side, as soon as he was done checking that the criminal was really unconscious and bound by chakra repressing rope. She healed his injuries, having already dealt with her own scratches and cuts while fighting.

He was badly injured, but not badly enough to not tell her off for stepping in.

"Wildcat-san, I know it is hard for you to not step in and fight, but you ignored my direct orders to stay back, even if I was injured. I would have held out on my own for a while-"

"Bear-san." She interrupted. "You do not know the extent to your injuries. you would have been unconscious within five minutes of fighting if I had not stepped in."

She smiled under her mask, even though it would not be seen. "I am the medic. I know my duty as the medic on our team."

The bear masked man thought for a second, before nodding. "I see. And I am sorry for judging your actions. I have heard and seen for myself stories of you in ANBU."

He gave a short laugh, at the shocked silence and then her undignified snort. Even though she was knew to the squads, she was just as good as their level, and could hold her own easily. He respected that, and understood her troubles as a medic.

For her sake, he hoped that it would be a while before she had a solo mission, where she would have to be the one to kill the target.

***Flashback Ends***

The second mission was harder than the first, and a three team mission instead, involving two other ANBU members and a group of rouge shinobi from several nations, not just Konoha. The third was even worse, as it was a solo mission. It was tiring, physically and mentally.

***Flashback***

Sakura bounded through the trees, looking down at the tracks and marks left by her prey through her mask. She turned her head towards the cliff, towering over above her, trying to make her feel small and weak. But Sakura was not daunted.

Porcelain mask blank and unpainted, she ran towards the edge of the trees, where they changed and began slanting to one side with the land. The trees were no longer flush and green, but now a dull grey colour, hints of soft lilac and blue flowers. Nothing bright and colourful here.

The rocks completed the colour scheme, dull metal grey stone, and nutrient-less dark brown. Overall, a horrible place to be, even for mission standards.

A bright colour caught her attention, making her concentrate even harder on her mission, instead of her surroundings. A small red patch, much like a flag or beacon, alerted her to the presence of her prey. She gathered that the man was weak, more than likely from his injuries. He was not a healer…

But Sakura was. And she knew the human body like the back of her hand. The blood was a bright red, not the duller more purple crimson, meaning that it was an artery that she had cut when they had fought before. Arteries bled more than what a vein would. He would weaken faster.

She had been tracing this criminal's steps for almost a week now. He was smart, she would give him that, and was determined, as his life was on the line, but Sakura was too. She had engaged him into battle four times so far, and each time, the man had run away, weakening fast, especially with his kekkei genkai. It was draining his chakra fast, and leaving him with less energy to use for running.

And Sakura was closing in.

***Flashback End***

The man had fought well, and managed to hit one of Sakura's main organs during the battle. It had been too bad for him that she was a medic and still had a lot of chakra left compared to him. The fight had lasted for over four hours, surprising considering how weak the man must have been. But as they say, the threat of death lends strength.

Not enough in his case.

Sakura had taken care of the man, hitting a pressure point on his neck, killing him instantly in a non bloody death. She had used a special jutsu that Ibiki had taught her, to stop the blood from running out anymore from his wounds, and then prepared to burn the body. Scare dry wood was littered on the top of the hill, so Sakura used her strength to move the body down from the top of the cliff, and to the bottom, where there was more wood, and where the smoke from the fire of the burning body would be harder to see. If had burnt it on the cliff, anyone around would know that there was a fire on the cliff, and come to investigate.

It was difficult for her. The killing and the moving of the body. The body was heavy, and carrying a corpse down a steep cliff and trying to keep a hold of both objects at once was hard. But she managed, just like how she would manage to get over the killing of people.

She was a medic, so healing was what she was meant to do. To help people, not kill them. To get rid of their injuries, not cause them. It went against her nature, but she was a shinobi, so killing was what she was meant to do.

It had confused her. And it still did.

***

That's it.

Hopefully you guys liked it, and can see where I'm leading with it… I had a hard time writing this, as it had lots of flashbacks and jumped everywhere. It was only a type of bridge between the next events…

Can you guess what will happen next? Or do you have an ideas, please tell me!!!

Here's a teaser preview…

'_He was dead already._

_She had known that when his screams stopped.'_

I love to hear what you think… READ AND REVIEW!!!


	13. Chapter 13

He he… Suspense…

Here is the next chapter

***

Blood pooled out around the woman and her male partner. She had no idea of what was happening, nor how her attacker knew that they were shinobi. She struggled to move, lifting an arm to reach out to her partner. Her chakra touched him.

He was dead already.

She had known that when his screams stopped. She too had been screaming, at the horrible nightmares that she had to face. Nameless people hurting her, and all that she had loved. Even the ones that were already dead were alive and being tortured.

She heard them screaming out her name, pleading her to make it stop. But she had no control over herself and had to watch, as they died slowly, cursing her name and looking at her with hate filled eyes.

And now she was dying, slowly. The blood that was left in her veins was draining, adding to the steadily growing pool around her. The cuts stung- no they were worse than that, they ached and burned, like their was poison and salt being slathered on them, and non too gently.

She closed her eyes, feeling the blackness creep up on her. She did not want to give in, but she knew that she had no choice. What ever rescue party that came for her, would be too late, and you could not rescue a dead body.

She held on to that thought, hoping, that somewhere out there, they had found her message.

The darkness would be kept at bay, for a short time.

***

"Two of our best operatives are trapped out there, somewhere."

Ibiki's face was even more grim than normal. He looked around the room, at the masked shinobi. He had with him two scrolls, one a copy containing the mission objectives and location of the mission that the two missing shinobi had. The other, a new mission, wrote up for the rescue mission and the search and destruction of the threats involved.

"We do not know where exactly, but we have a loose idea of where they are."

He pulled a map down from on the wall. The room was small, and dark, but the shinobi' cat like eyes could see the details on the map, including the blue dot on the map, and the large red circle surrounding it. The circle represented the area where the missing ops could be, and the blue dot was where they had the last communication with them. The map showed the rain country.

All eyes looked at the map, and then back to their superior.

"The last communication that we had with them was at 1842 hours. That was forty minutes ago. This mission was an update every ten minutes mission, as it was extremely high risk, and very important to the lives of the shinobi of this village."

He threw several pictures on the table. They were pictures of bodies.

The shinobi in the picture were badly cut. The cuts were too controlled to be gashes, and too deep to be called plain cuts. They cut deep into bone, muscle and fat, showing a deep red colour. The bodies were a very pale white, telling the ANBU that the shinobi died of blood loss. Either that or they had very little blood left in their system when their bodies were retrieved.

"What you can't see is their reactions when they were alive."

Ibiki's voice was grave, and had an edge of deep hatred. He pulled out another sheet of paper, a hospital notice of death. The sheet held all of the information that was noted during the post mortem. There was also information on the patients behaviour before their deaths.

"From the hospital reports here, the shinobi that died had to be retrained, as they seemed to be under a very powerful genjutsu, that-"

"-Caused deliria and general violent behaviour. They acted confused, and did not know where they were, and attacked anyone close to them." One of the people in the room spoke, obviously female by the voice. She had a very authoritative voice, and didn't seem too unfazed by the look that Ibiki gave her.

He nodded, his look not quite a glare, but disapproving. "Yes, as Wildcat-san has said, they were highly unstable. She was one of the ones to treat some shinobi who had the same symptoms as these dead shinobi."

He looked at the blank mask of 'Wildcat' and motioned for her to talk.

"…" she stood up and joined him at the front at his cue. "The shinobi that I treated had the same symptoms, as Ibiki-sama has said. The shinobi were under a very powerful genjutsu that was hard to break, even for someone else not effected by it. The genjutsu works in a horribly smart way. It effects the brain, making the person effected by it see things."

"That is exactly how every other genjutsu acts." A blank mask commented, tilting to one side, the eyes under it looking curiously at other blank mask standing at the front.

"Yes, but this one does not just make you see and believe what you are seeing. In a normal genjutsu, you know that it is a genjutsu, and can dispel it with that knowledge. The problem with this one, is that your brain is unable to recognise the fact that what it is seeing is not real. This means that you can not dispel it."

"And the cuts?"

"Are caused by the brain."

The room murmured quietly, before Ibiki growled loudly. "Listen up!!! Wildcat-san is only explaining this once, so listen!"

The room went dead silent immediately, and all eyes were on the blank mask at the front.

"The cuts are caused by the brain. The brain is a very powerful thing. It controls al of your body, and more importantly your nerves.

Normally, when the nerves are damaged, the brain gets a message from the nerves, and is alerted of the damage. The brain would then send back a signal telling the nerves to produce the feeling of pain, to warn the rest of your body of the danger.

In this genjutsu, it is the brain that thinks that it is being damaged, so the body does too, and you feel the pain. But the pain is real, as the body reproduces the injury, at the will of the brain. The brain has been tricked to… hurt its own body, whether it knows it or not. that is why the cuts are so straight and abnormally deep. The cut is a clean slice, from the inside out, from muscle and flesh to skin instead of being cut through the skin and then into the flesh."

Once finished, all of the room felt cold at the thought of their own brain being tricked to hurt themselves. It was a horrifying thought and a threatening one too.

"Thank you Wildcat-san." Ibiki motioned back to the seat, and the shinobi obeyed, sitting down in the seat.

"So now you see why this mission is so important, and you know what you are up against. You will be split into three teams of four, each team having a medic and a leader. Both are to be listened to, as the medics will be taught by Wildcat-san how to release the genjutsu. Only someone with good knowledge of medical experience can release it."

Another piece of paper was pulled out, and three more scrolls, the exact replicas of the mission objectives. The paper was read out.

"The teams are as such.

Team One, leader, Bear-san. Medic, Wildcat-san. The other team members are Mouse-san and Raven-san. Team Two, leader, Hawk-san. Medic, Willow-san. The other team members, Hound-san and Shark-san. Team Three, leader, Boar-san. Medic, Seal-san. The other team members are Lioness-san and Tiger-san.

Those are your teams in order of rank. Medics, if Wildcat-san gives you an order, you obey. Leaders, if Bear-san gives you an order, you obey. As normal leaders are in charge, medics are for advice in medical ways and in the dispelling of the genjutsu. That is all."

The mission scrolls were given to leaders, as they stepped forward to receive them from Ibiki. He nodded at them, and then glared at them all, before opening the door to let them out.

"You leave immediately. Read your mission scroll on the way."

***

Sorry, a bit short, but I kinda thought that it would be too much information to take in if I kept writing. But now we are also caught up to Kakashi's last update…

Now the story is getting somewhere!

READ AND REVIEW!!!


	14. Chapter 14

The race is on!!!

Me: Run ANBU! Run!!! You might not make it in time!!! He he… *chuckles evilly before turning it into a full fledged evil laugh* muh ha ha ha!!!

Sakura: We will get there in time. Trust me…*pulls out sharp kunai and looks threateningly at me*

Me: Gulp… *rubs back of head nervously* ha ha… yeah… about that… I'm not really sure…

***

The tree branches flew by at rapid paces, but not one of them hit the ANBU. They were running at top speed, to the Rain Country. They had just passed the marker, in a record time of eight hours. It was at least another two hours till they got to the outer edge of the area where the search area began.

None of them looked tired, although they had been running at their very top speed for all of that length of time. No chakra involved.

As they ran, the surroundings slowly changed, becoming more wet and rainforest like. True its name, the sky began to let go of water as they ran. The Land of Rain was a very hostile place, and very dangerous from the report.

Wildcat thought back to the mission scroll, which she had memorised.

The Land of Rain was rumoured to be the home base of the Akatsuki, so they had to be very careful. It was also home to many rouges and a good place to hide for many criminals. The Land of Rain lay in between many countries, including the Land of Wind and Fire, two major shinobi nations. The Grass Country was on the border of Rain as well.

There was no shinobi village here, but as said, many rouge shinobi preferred to hide out.

They got nearer to the area sooner than expected. Bear-san told the teams to stop, before ordering them off to look in different directions. In a soft noise, the other two teams moved out, synchronised in their actions. It was only the soft pattering of the rain covering the controlled footfalls of the ANBU with catlike grace, and the wind brushing through the trees to disguise their swift movements.

They were gone, leaving only Wildcat, Bear, Mouse and Raven standing in the trees, unmoving. They waited for Bear to give them their orders. He pulled out the scroll, and carefully spread it out on the tree branch. Raven and Mouse, as quick as a flash, were on the same branch where the map was spread. Wildcat, who was already standing next to Bear peered down at the map, crouching down in a smooth movement to look at it.

"We are here." Bear spoke softly, so much so that his team had to strain to hear his words over the rain. "We are searching this area here." He traced a finger over the map, and then tapped it on a small town. "This town is one of the places that we will look in. We will go to the middle of the area, where the last message was made, and then travel, without splitting up, to the town and search there. Clear?"

They nodded, standing up, and preparing to keep moving on to their new goal. Bear gave the signal, and off they went, darting through the trees like birds, their feet barely touching the surface of the branches. The rain still fell, and the sky showed not hint of the dawn that was a few hours away. It visibly became darker as they ran.

Wildcat saw the darkness falling, and felt herself tense at the thought of dawn. They would be too late to save their comrades if they did not find them by dawn.

After all, there is always the dark before dawn.

***

A lone charcoal eye watched as ANBU members from his own Leaf Village passed through the trees, moving as quietly and stealthily as what Kakashi was. He had not seen many passing through, as the Hokage had deemed the Rain country unsafe, almost a Rouge Country in a way. She was only trying to make the mission easier for him.

It was late, or early, depending on what your opinion was. The sky was still dark, but even if it the first rays of light had been peeking over the horizon, you would not get to see it in the dreary weather of the Rain Country.

He mentally sighed again, turning his attention back to the ANBU.

The figures of the obviously well trained and extremely high level ANBU were still eyed enviously. Not for the first time in two months did Kakashi wonder whether he had done the right thing by taking the mission. A small part of his mind had been whispering treacherously to himself, telling him that he had been a coward, and the worse type of friend to leave his home and abandon his friends to go on this stupid, frustrating, torture of a mission.

He missed all of his friends. As much as he was a 'lone wolf', Kakashi did like the odd company, instead of sitting in mud, dirt, leaves and rain by himself for two months, watching for something that never happened.

He was especially missing a certain rosette kunoichi, one who he had fled from, and left behind.

Too bad the famous Copy Nin turned back to his mission at the wrong time. He turned to glance after the long gone ANBU members, wondering if he would have recognised any of the masks. But then he remembered that they were blank masks, and let his hopes die. He knew nobody in Ibiki's classified squads.

But the flash of pink hair under an ANBU hood had passed by when he had not been looking, and was unseen by the silver haired man.

He went back to waiting, and watching. Another hour passed slowly, before he stood, stretching and enjoying the creaks of his bone cracking. He was stiff from sitting there for over twenty four hours. There had been no sign of people, other than the ANBU from his own village.

He moved, going back to the small town where he had a room booking in the inn. He had done surveillance on the area, and there was no sign of the Akatsuki. There were however, a few rouge nin hiding in the town, but nothing that was worth the Copy Nin's time.

The inn was grotty, and unclean, but it had a bed, and allowed Kakashi to hide there unseen as long as he had it booked and carried the key on himself. The woman who ran it had a small thing for Kakashi and so he got it cheaper than most, and even got clean bathwater instead of having to go to the local bath house.

As soon as the Copy Nin walking into the town, he noticed that the ANBU members were in the town. Their chakra signals were hidden very well, and if the Copy Nin had not felt the almost completely hidden chakra signals of two of them, he would not have known that there were four of them. But he had seen the group of four flit past him in the trees, so he knew their numbers.

As he wandered towards the inn, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched. He knew that the ANBU would be watching him, even if they did not recognise him as the Copy Nin with his dyed black hair, and henge.

A man and a woman, obviously new from the look of it, were already at the inn when Kakashi entered it. He waited by the door, hands crossed in a lazy slouch as he waited.

The man was good looking, with nondescript dark brown hair, and deep green amber eyes. He looked strong, and Kakashi would say that he was skilled at martial arts or some type of fighting art, with his lean muscles and graceful movements. The woman was the exact opposite, her movements tight, and clumsy. She knew it too, and, when she shot a glance over her shoulder at her arrival, she proved it by turning too fast and almost falling over.

"Careful Hana." The man caught her, smiling into her face, and she looked back into his, her eyes seeming trapped within his.

She was pretty, in a small, petite way. No muscle, but no fat either. All smooth curves and delicate features. Her hair was a deep chestnut brown, small strands of red in it. Her eyes were green as well, but more hazel green, with flecks of brown and grey in it, than his pale jade eyes.

"So I can get medicine for my wife from there?"

The man seemed frantic, and kept glancing down at his pale, unsmiling wife. She watched him, her eyes sad, and dull. Lifeless.

"Down the road, there is a man who sells the herbs that you need." The lady of the inn smiled at Kakashi, then gave an apologetic look aimed towards the couple. She was apologising to him for their disturbance.

Kakashi felt the subtle chakra signals of the rouges moving through the town, and the chakra signals of the ANBU fading as they left his awareness. They left often enough, and then came back a few days after. He waited for the couple to move on, and watched as the young wife became more and more pale, before she grasped her husbands arm, and looked at him, trying to communicate something to him.

The young man looked at her, his face calm and adoring, until he saw he fall to the ground, her eyelids fluttering. He crouched, picking her up bridal style, and moved fast out the door and towards the directions that the inn lady had given him.

Kakashi felt pity towards the young man, for it looked like his wife was going to be in serious trouble.

The small herb store was never open at such an early time in the morning.

***

Wildcat leapt out of Bear's arms, dropping the henge as soon as they were out of sight. She put all thoughts of Kakashi in the back of her mind.

It was him in the inn, standing waiting for them to leave.

He had dyed his hair, and had a henge on, but Wildcat would recognise his chakra signal anywhere. He did not recognise hers and Bear's, as they were extremely talented at chakra control, including hiding their signals.

He knew about the rouges too. He would have to, if he had spent the past two months in the area. He would have felt them enter town as well. She too had felt the chakra signals of the rouges come into town, but with her amazing chakra control, she had felt them change and felt the movements of their chakra.

There was one more, who had exceptional chakra control, and had managed to stay under the radar of the Copy Nin without alerting him of his strength. If Kakashi had known about the other rouge, he would have been more on guard than what he was.

'Stop thinking about him Sakura!' her inner screamed, as they raced through the trees to where their other team members had been hiding. 'We have other problems!'

There was only blood where their team mates should have been hiding.

***

Kakashi is distracted. He could have noticed the rouge that has really good hiding skills…

But he was too busy thinking about Sakura.

Kakashi: No I wasn't!!! I am always alert!!! I was just bored… and every time I was in town I took the chance to read since I could not read when I was sitting in the rain…

Me: Ha! Yeah right! Trust me, you were too busy thinking about Sakura, and worrying about what she would do to you when you got back and she knew that you ran away from her!

Sakura: … I'm pretty sure he was half asleep and sick to death of the rain.

Me: And thinking about you Sakura!

Read and review!!! I hope you know why Kakashi was so un-alert now!!!


	15. Chapter 15

I am sooooo twisted. Do you know what song came to mind as I read the first sentence?

Follow the yellow brick road.

Geez. What a thought, it will come to mind many times during this story.

***

They followed the blood, sprinting as fast as they could after the rouge and their team mates.

"Why did they move so far away from us!!!?" Bear growled under his breath, "I told them to stay close the fools!!!"

Wildcat only snarled under her breath as they came to a screeching halt.

They were far away from the village now. Standing in the clearing in front of them, was Mouse and Raven. They had a few small cuts, but did not seem to be under the genjutsu… at least they were not acting like it.

"Mouse, Raven. Tell me what happened?" Bear and Wildcat did not move any closer to them. There was a good chance that they were under the genjutsu. "Why did you leave your posts?"

They remained silent, and then suddenly, attacked.

They were fast, but so were Wildcat and Bear. Kunai hit kunai, as they fought, and tried to bring things under control. The clearing became a whirl wind of weapons and leaves, as the weapons were thrown, and the surrounding trees were hit by them.

Raven went after Bear, while Mouse went after Wildcat. They fought, flipping off trees and darting faster than most eyes could see. Mouse landed a hit on Wildcat, sending her flying through the trees. It was then that the two shinobi under the genjutsu seemed to let down their guard.

"Wildcat!" Bear shouted, throwing a kunai at Raven as she attacked him. Wildcat formed hand signs, ready to release the genjutsu, and then murmured 'Kai.'

The other two fell to the ground, the genjutsu dropped. They groaned holding their heads, while Mouse gave a quiet whimper. Raven got up first, staggering, as they tried to stay up right.

"What happened?" she asked, as Wildcat darted to her side, and held her team mate up. she healed their injuries and then sent chakra to their brain to check that they were not under the genjutsu still.

"They are clean." Wildcat told Bear, who nodded and then proceeded to tell the other two shinobi what had happened. Once they told them, Raven gave a small snarl.

"They knew that we were here the whole time. They snuck up on us, and then tried to put us under the genjutsu. As I fell under, I heard them talk, and say something about the 'others'.

"They could have been talking about the other two that we are after?" Mouse suggested, still sitting on the ground, head between his legs. He was still queasy after the genjutsu. Not to mention the one of the punches that Wildcat had landed.

"No." Bear answered, a frown apparent by the tone of his voice. "They would not have been talking about those two. They 'others' in plural. You don't normally use that for only two people, you would use it for-"

"A bunch." Wildcat finished, fists clenching.

Bear pressed his hand to the earpiece, trying to radio the rest of the teams. "Team Two, Team Three, do you copy?" he got nothing but static for his trouble.

"Damn…" they all showed their anger when Bear let out the word on his breath. They knew then that the others had been attacked. There was no way that they would not have signal, even if the weather was horrible. The radio's were designed to be able to contact other's over large distances, no matter what the weather.

Wildcat looked at Bear, her face expressionless because of the mask. Her voice was anything but though. It held all of her emotions, the anger, frustration, desperation and worry.

"What orders do you have?"

***

Kakashi lay on his pale green bed in the dirty inn. For some reason, he could not get to sleep. He had been tired to the bone, not more than ten minutes ago, and had been ready to collapse on his bed and read, before falling asleep.

But when he read his novel, he could not concentrate. It was like there was something bothering him, a little detail at the back of his mind, like he had forgotten something, but could not remember what it was. He tried to get to sleep, but his mind buzzed, wide awake.

He knew it, in his gut, that something was wrong.

***

They tracked the man that they were after for a good hour. He was fast, and obviously an S-class criminal, at the very least. And that was with the knowledge that he knew how to use the self inflicted pain genjutsu, not also considering his talent at hiding his chakra and being able to catch two well seasoned, experienced ANBU off guard.

The trees became tighter, and closer knit as they got further into the forest. They loomed overhead, dark and forbidding, their branches unmoving. A strange metallic coppery smell hung in the air, one that Wildcat recognised very well. She leapt down from the branches that they were running on, and followed Bear to the base of a nearby tree.

There were small flecks of blood scattered across the grass, staining the brown trunks of the trees, and the small dark green leaves, contrasting with the greens of the area. A bigger pool of the liquid lay under one of the trees, as did a large black body.

They cautiously surrounded the body, checking around it to make sure that it was not a trap. Wildcat then moved forwards, lying her hand on the body's neck, and checking for a pulse.

"It's there, but faint." She answered their hopes, and turned the man over, trying to find a blank mask to see if he was one of theirs. There was not one on him, but by puling up his sleeve, she saw the spiralling dark tattoo that signified that he was in ANBU.

"Positive ID." Raven spoke, finding a broken and mangled radio near his side.

Wildcat took in the man's figure. "I'm guessing he is about, 5ft 11 inches, weight, around 78kg maybe more, maybe less. He has dark hair, almost black, and," opening the man's closed eyelids and peering at his eyes, "light green and blue eyes. Shows signs of being under the genjutsu, but is unconscious for now. There are many openings over his body."

She kneeled, close to the ground, and using her chakra healed the man's cuts until he was perfectly healthy. Mouse bent down, and lifted the man, prepared to carry him away from the blood and into a more comfortable position, never mind the fact that the man wasn't conscious enough to care.

"This must be Hawk." Mouse stated, looking down at the man in ANBU gear on his shoulder. "Boar is shorter, and has light brown hair."

"Is he still under the genjutsu?" Bear directed the question at Wildcat, frowning under his mask. He did not want his team to be attacked by one of their own, not again. He had worked with Wildcat before, and trusted her with her knowledge of medical problems. Ibiki also said that she had worked on the genjutsu before, in her previous work in the hospital.

"Yes." Wildcat did not even look at the man, as she made hand signs to release the genjutsu. "The genjutsu lasts, even when unconscious."

The risk level just went higher, as she told him that. He did not know that the genjutsu would last even after you are knocked out. He had to come up with a plan that would not endanger the teams lives.

Or not anymore than necessary.

"Raven, Mouse. You two go back to Konoha. Take Hawk with you. Report to Ibiki about what we have found. Tell him that the criminal is at the very least, high S-class level, and is an immediate threat to our mission and those of shinobi who are in the near by area."

"Yes, sir."

"Wildcat and I will carry on alone. If you two stay with us, then you will hold us back if you get caught under the genjutsu again. Wildcat and teach me how to release the genjutsu, so that I can release it if she is trapped in it, and she can do the same for me.

Any questions?"

"There is another Leaf shinobi in the area." Wildcat could not help but ask. "Will we alert him to the danger, and ask him to leave the area?"

"Yes and no. Raven, Mouse, tell him of the danger, but do not tell him to leave the area. He can make the decision himself. Where did you see this Leaf shinobi?"

"He was in the inn with us. He came in the door behind us, and was waiting for us to leave." Wildcat remembered the looks that the inn lady was giving him, and forced herself to control her feelings. What did it matter if someone was giving him flirtatious looks, when she was about to be killed?

'More than likely die.' He inner corrected her outer, still having some hope of survival.

There was only little hope that they would actually survive this mission and save their comrades.

All of the special ANBU knew it, but could not complain about it, because the safety of the village came first. They might not say it, but they knew.

"Raven, Mouse. Go. And good luck." Bear sent them off, voice cold and tight. He was apprehensive and nervous, although his body language did not betray it, even if the hard tone of his voice did.

The other members of the team nodded, looking at both of them briefly, wishing them a silent good luck back and saying goodbye. They then left, just like the other teams had when they split up. Silent, fast and deadly. Even with the weight of an extra person. They were gone within seconds, not a trace of their presence even being there.

It was only Wildcat and Bear left.

"Move out." Bear ordered, leaping into the trees, with Wildcat close on his heels.

They trailed the blood, it being the only lead that they had. It lead through trees, and on the ground, drops fallen from higher places to lower ones showing where the bleeding shinobi had run, and where they were going. After a short time, they stopped, another body lying on the ground below them. Two more were draped against a tree.

They were all wearing blank, white, porcelain masks.

More blood speckled the masks, and the backdrop. The atmosphere was strange, the air still, like there had been a fight. By the positioning, it looked like the two dead bodies on the far side of the trees had fought against the one lone one.

The lone body was the medic on Hawk's team, Willow.

Wildcat could see what would have happened.

"The other two," she pointed to the bodies on the far side, "would have been put under the genjutsu, and attacked the medic. It looks like they slit her throat, while the other must cut her hands off to stop her from trying to make hand signs. That would have also prevented her from releasing the genjutsu and it would have caused her become weaker, from blood loss."

Bear nodded, walking over to the two other bodies. "Then these two would have been killed, either by each other, by the genjutsu, or by someone else."

Wildcat looked at the dead medic's body, a shot of fear crawling down her spine slowly. "That means…"

"That someone was here, watching them, and knew to attack the medic first." Bear finished, his blank mask turning to look in the trees around them, a shadow standing above the body of the medic.

"Took you long enough."

***

Bum bum BA!!! The plot is revealed!!!

Haha, if anyone thinks that I am going to make Kakashi swoop in there and save the day, then you are soooooooo wrong. I'm sorry, but it's so cliché and over used in most stories. The hero swoops in from out of nowhere at the last moment, kicks the bad guys ass and saves the heroine.

Not going to happen.

Ha ha. I just got plan. You might, or might not be surprised with the new thing I have just come up with!!!

Review and I will put up the next chapter faster…


	16. Chapter 16

I feel that this chapter should be short, but to make it longer, I added another part from Kakashi's point of view to the end. I also went back and added more detail too. Before I did I just had the basic outlines…

I was having trouble writing this chapter, ok?

Hope you enjoy it. :p

***

"That someone was here, watching them, and knew to attack the medic first." Bear finished, his blank mask turning to look in the trees around them, a shadow standing above the body of the medic.

"Took you long enough."

The voice was a predatory purr. It held a contemptuous edge to it, as well as satisfaction and malevolence.

Whistling softly, leaves brushing against each other anxiously, the trees whispered their condolences. They moved, like they were trying to warn the ANBU of the upcoming danger and apologise for hiding it within their grasps. Hiding within the dark shade of their branches hid a figure. They kept their face in the dark as they watched the ANBU members jump, and spin to face it, weapons at the ready, muscles tensed to fight, and heart pounding with adrenaline. The shadow stepped forward, to reveal himself.

Or herself.

The woman who stepped out of the shadows of the tree was tall, not unnaturally so, but just noticeably so. She had a wild mane of fiery red and orange hair, tamed and held back by glinting sharp metal, and crimson red eyes. Her skin was pale, and her face angular and sharp. She carried the senbon in her hair, and had a pack of herbs strapped to her legs.

She laughed at the ANBU, smiling sinfully. Her smug grin and laugh let them know that she thought that she had already won.

"Well. What took you so long?" she mocked, "You are the last two survivors. Too late for the rest of your group." At this, she nudged the body of the medic with her foot, looking disdainfully at it.

Wildcat went to step forward, a growl coming from under the mask. Bear held out his arm, stopping her from attacking.

"She'll go for me first." He stated, his blank mask turning to look at her. He knew that the woman would go for the medic first.

Wildcat was confused, but nodded, moving herself in front of Bear, like she was the leader, not the medic. Then, if the mask had not been on her face, they would have seen her eyes glint, flashing green as she looked at the red haired woman.

"What are you waiting for?" she gloated coldly, making the red head bristle with anger. "I thought you wanted to eliminate us for good?"

The red head snarled, before lashing out with her senbon. Wildcat had her own hidden supple of senbon, and threw them, knocked each of the senbon out of the air with distinct 'ping's. she then threw some more, aiming for the woman's pressure points in her arm. If hit right, the woman would lose the use of her arm, and would not be able to pull the senbon, which were causing her arm to be unusable.

The woman dodged, laughing amused at the games. She darted towards Bear, trying to run around Wildcat, but the ANBU had already moved, punching her fist into the ground in a controlled movement, releasing just enough chakra to make the red head have to change course.

The red head spun, spinning on her heels and pirouetting around to fly in the opposite direction. She moved with the grace of a dancer, like most shinobi, but hers was even more natural and swan like, as she ran off like a shot, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Wildcat snarled, frustrated with the little pixie's dancing moves. She threw kunai at the red head, trying to make her change direction again. The woman gave her a smug grin, as she flipped off a tree, twisting to land on her feet behind Wildcat, and ready to attack in the small opening that was left there.

But Wildcat had been planning on that, and had left the gape open for a reason.

"Always look underneath the underneath." She murmured, the twin hidden senbon in her fingers shooting out and firing at the red head's arms. Wildcat had made up the hidden claw finger jutsu herself, with a bit of help from Shizune. Shizune had taught her a jutsu like that, but not designed to hide senbon in fingers, but in the mouth.

Sakura had simply taken that, and applied it to her fingers, laying the senbon straight across her middle finger. Wildcat had taken the time to grow the skin of her fingers back over the senbon when the woman had been chatting and waltzing around.

It was interesting on missions when she had to have them in for the whole mission. Especially when she clenched her fists, all of her fingers curling inwards… except for the middle ones with the senbon in them.

They hit perfectly, and the woman gave an enraged scream, darting back and leaping on to the tree behind her as her arms fell useless to her sides. She looked up at the two ANBU and then looked behind them, her attention fixed on something behind them. The ANBU did not risk a look back. For all that they knew, it could be a trick.

The flame haired woman squinted, her eyes narrowing, making her look even more feline, if possible. Her expression of rage changed, calming into a cold and deadly look.

"What took you so long?" she asked, her frame relaxing and her cold look turning into an unhappy frown.

A deep, husky male voice answered.

"I had to take care of some business."

***

The sky was lighting up. Dawn had arrived, but the beautiful colours were still not visible and the light was only minimal strength. It gave a soft grey and purple shine to everything, even though it already was dull grey shades in the town.

Kakashi got up from his bed, and leapt out of the window quietly. Someone was in the village. Someone that he recognised.

The ANBU from before were back.

He raced over the rooftops speedily. If any of the civilians in the town had looked out of their windows and seen him, they would have thought that it was just a cat, streaking across the sky like a demon on a hunt. He was fast, and silent, as shinobi should be.

He reached the spot where he had felt the ANBU's chakra, just out side of the town boundaries. Judging by the bodies laying face down on the ground, he guessed that they had been on there way back to town when they had been ambushed.

He was certain that they were taken in surprise attack.

There was no sign of a fight. No weapons lying trapped in the dirt where they were thrown and missed. No dents or scratches on the trees. No marks or signs of visible scratches, bruises or injuries on the bodies. No blood.

He knelt down beside them and checked their vitals for any signs of life. Their bodies were cold and still, unmoving. No chest rising to make way for air. No blood being pumped through their system. Their skin was still slightly warm, but cooling fast. A single senbon lay in their necks, showing the cause of death.

He turned over their bodies.

A blank mask stared up at him, pale, and still. No emotion. They were members of Ibiki's squad. And they were dead. Their ANBU tattoo stood out on the pale skin of their biceps, like ink on paper. A leaf symbol, like the number six, but swirling and joined to form the shape of a leaf. Kakashi had one just like that on his arm.

They would be around the same level that Kakashi had been when he ditched ANBU.

And someone had taken them out so easily.

'Shit!'

***

'Shit.'

Bear froze, the tone and pitch of the voice turning a positive identification in his brain. He recognised the voice, and did not like the implications of it.

'Shit!'

Wildcat thought, not recognising the voice, but knowing that it was bad.

'This isn't good…' her inner made an appearance, for the second time on the mission. She was normally channelled full time during a mission, or not at all. Her inner was strong, and gave Sakura the advice that she normally needed, but during a mission, her inner could be potentially dangerous to Sakura, in the way that she could be a distraction.

So when she did turn up, it was pretty bad for 'Wildcat'.

Either A) She was having mixed feelings about the mission. This was probably because of Kakashi. Simple, and obvious reasons there, he was so close, but Sakura could not see him because she was 'Wildcat'. Her inner was the side of her wanting to shout, 'God damn the rules, I want to see the man that I love!'

Or B) Her subconscious thought that her inner was needed… which meant that her gut instinct thought that this mission was bigger and more dangerous than she thought. Well it couldn't get any worse… the odds were already stacked in the favour of her dying.

Either way, the mission was not good for her.

And there was now even numbers.

***

Kakashi looked down at the bodies, and thought for a second, then pulled out a small kunai and cut his finger. Smearing the liquid up his arm, he summoned his pack.

He knew that something was up, something big. Ibiki's groups were here. That always meant that something that was a danger to Konoha and its shinobi was around. If two were dead, Ibiki would want to know.

The pack poofed around.

"Yo." A small pug emerged first and greeted Kakashi. "What's the situation?"

"Two dead ANBU. Special ops." Kakashi explained shortly. He knelt by the bodies, and pulled off their masks to get a picture of who they were.

"One female. Dark hair pale skin, tattoo of a raven on her back, more than likely her codename and positive ANBU. About 5ft 7."

He blinked, then looked towards the other body, pushed it over so that it was on its back like the female had been and looked under the mask. As much as he hated doing this sort of stuff, Ibiki needed to get a description of who had died, so then he could identify them. Kakashi put on a poker face, and got into the foul business. "One male, light brown hair, fairly tanned, no other tattoo other than ANBU one. About 5ft 9."

The pug nodded. "Got it. One of Ibiki's?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he took in the blank unpainted mask.

"Yep."

"Am I telling him all the details?"

"Yep."

"Get him to send backup?"

"Yep."

"Do I get a thank you?"

"Yep."

"…"

"When you get back." Kakashi stood up abruptly, and with a shrill whistle called the other dogs in. "I need you to scout the area for scents other than these two dead bodies. Once you find one, bark out, and hunt."

"Go!"

***

Hn.

That was a sucky ending word… I wanted to finish at the whole, 'now there was even numbers' part… Meh…

Sigh, but that would be sad, and short. And I don't like short chapters myself when I am reading, so I thought that I would make it longer…

The things that I do for you guys… ;)

So be nice, and REVIEW!!!


	17. Chapter 17

Lots of fighting scenes in this one... Although they are short, and, as normal, the story is jumping from perspective/place to place.

ENJOY!!!

***

"You." He knew that he had recognised the voice. Bear turned his head, ever so slightly to one side, and looked out of the corner of his mask at the man standing behind them…

The dark haired man was tall, about 5ft 11 inches, and had bright blue and green eyes. He had no mask on, and was grinning like a maniac. He gave a small wave, and his grin grew, becoming like that of the Cheshire Cat. The woman slowly became more happy, and laughed, nodding back to the man.

It was Hawk.

"So? What did take you so long?" she asked, her smile growing, and her eyes twinkling like she had won the lottery. Her arms still lay useless by her sides.

Hawk rolled his eyes, his waving hand dropping with a tired gesture. "A slight glitch in the plan. There is another shinobi in town, but he doesn't know about us yet."

Wildcat felt her heart drop at those words. She had been hoping that Kakashi would come. He made her feel safer, even though she was strong enough to look after herself, Kakashi had that air about him. He would protect her, no matter what the odds. He was strong, and had the sharingan. Together they could kill these guys.

But if he wasn't coming…

'No.' her inner growled, 'He will come. If he doesn't, you channel me.' She punched the air and grinned wildly.

Wildcat moved her hand in a small motion, signalling to Bear silently and then spun around completely, leaving Bear to keep an eye on the woman. She had a suspicion…

The man Hawk was acting odd, as if he was insane. His pupils were acting odd, dilating and contracting frequently. There was no change in the strength of light around him, so his eyes shouldn't be acting like that, and they also shouldn't have the strange film of cloudy substance over his eye either. And then there was also his right hand. It was twitching eccentrically, like the nerves were not working properly.

It would give the impression of a madman, but the medic knew better.

"You have him under a genjutsu."

***

Kakashi waited, watching his nin dogs sprint across the trees. They moved fast, their noses trained especially for these types of jobs. They had worked for hours when they were puppies, training in crowded places to find random people that Kakashi knew. It payed off, double time. They were now one of his best assets and had helped him out of numerous sticky situations.

A loud bark sounded, and Kakashi took to the trees, following the noise. The dogs were clumped around a tree, a small smudge of blood on the tree, showing where the killer had rested or leaned against it.

'He has his own blood on his clothes.' Kakashi noted, the dogs sniffing at it, and then racing off, faster than most shinobi could run. But Kakashi was fast enough, and had worked with the dogs enough to be able to keep up with them.

Their baying quietened as they ran, they had guessed that it would be a better idea to be quiet and not alert the person that they were tracking of their presence. The smell that they were tracking was someone's blood, but there was also a scent lingering with it as well.

The male's scent was strong, like most shinobi more a subtle scent of sweat and forest, maybe a hint of dirt or wood in it, but it also had an overlay of a more feminine scent. It was the feminine scent that was strong, like a perfume of fermented wine and flowers. The perfume was too strong for the dogs' tastes, but instead of complaining, they were happy, as it gave them a good scent trail to the male.

They flew thought the forest, moving fast and the trees whipping by them.

They were close.

***

The woman laughed, her teeth flashing as she showed a feral grin. "Well, well. It didn't take you long to figure that out, did it? I have to hand it to you, you're smart."

Bear gave a sign, relieved. It was better that Hawk was under a genjutsu. He had thought that there was a traitor in their mists. If there had been a traitor in the organisation, it would have been catastrophic for the ANBU, and for the interrogation. But there wasn't.

It was now only a matter of releasing the genjutsu.

Like she could read his mind, Wildcat shook her head frustrated. "The genjutsu looks strong though, I think that the only way to break it would be to kill the woman. If I fight her, you take care of Hawk."

Bear nodded, letting her take charge. She was the genjutsu expert, after all.

Wildcat gave a short nod, then darted forward, her body blurring as she threw herself at the woman. She smashed the woman through a few trees, and then laughed, following up fast. She was moving the fight away from Bear and Hawk, so that Hawk would not interfere.

Bear grinned under his mask. He swore to himself sometimes, he did know what he would do with another incompetent partner.

***

"LET'S FIGHT!"

***

Wildcat snarled, bringing her chakra to her fists and bringing them to the round, the ground splitting in to pieces like it had been set off by a bomb. She followed up with a punch, one that sent the woman flying into the trees, the massive trunk collapsing under the pressure and strength of the blow.

The woman lay on the ground, unmoving as Wildcat walked over to her, pulling out a few senbon in one hand, and a kunai in the other. She bent down, to finish off the woman, but…

The woman was gone in a poof of smoke.

"You underestimated me."

The woman was standing on a tree above where her clone had been. Her arms hung at her side, not moving as she talked, looking down at Wildcat, in both senses of the phrase. "You thought that I would lie down and let you chase after me and kill me, without having another plan."

Wildcat was frozen in shock. She had not been expecting that at all. 'Damn it, I did underestimate her…'

The woman gave a snort, before grinning, and pulling up her senbon-less arms, her hands skilfully pulling out a foldable naginata. She mocked Wildcat, her tone sugary sweet and yet disdainful at the same time.

"Useless…"

Wildcat moved, as the woman leaped down from her perch, sweeping the naginata in a half moon shape in an attempt to cut at her. Wildcat darted back, forced to flip backwards to avoid the shining blade.

The blade on the end of the pole was sharp and dangerous, the blade made from two feet of curved silver stainless steel, and would create a serious injury if it came into contact with a body. The pole itself was made from a deep red wood, almost mahogany the colour of blood. The whole naginata was striking, and well-matched to the woman.

The woman and the blade came at Wildcat again. But this time, she was ready.

Ducking and rolling under the sweeping circular motion of the blade, Wildcat struck out in the opening left by the woman. Her kunai dug deep into the woman's leg, forcing her to her knees. Wildcat flung herself back out of the way, evading the extensive weapon successfully.

The blade dug into the ground, before being pulled out in a powerful motion, spraying a curtain of dirt in front of Wildcat's view of the woman. From behind the dirt, came a handful of senbon, spiralling out of the dust and clumps of earth. They hit Wildcat; only a few managed to be fended off by the kunai that she was holding. They hit her, but not in any seriously damaging places, but still, deep enough to hinder Wildcat's fighting.

Or, that was the red head's assessment when the dust died down, and she threw more senbon at the ANBU, this time heading for more fatal spots.

But then, in a poof of smoke, the ANBU member was gone, a log taking her place.

"You under estimated me."

***

Bear fought against Hawk, only trying to stay alive, and to not let the mind captured man past him, and to the woman that had Hawk under her control.

They darted at each other, blades flashing, and emitting grunts and panting noises as they fought. Grass was pulled up, dirt hanging to the roots as their feet hit the ground, trying to find a stable anchor to stop their bodies from being tossed into the trees around them.

Bear did not try to speak to Hawk as they fought. If Wildcat had said that it was useless, then he believed her. It would only be a waste of breath and energy.

A waste of breath that he needed to use, his lungs and chest aching from the need for oxygen. They had been over used for all of the physical activity that he had been doing, the fast sprints to and from places, the fighting, the waiting, and the running from Konoha to the border.

One of the kunai slashed at his arm, cutting the black material and making blood swell from the cut there, causing Bear to redouble his efforts, pain forgotten, or at the very least, ignored.

***

'Almost there…'

***

Bear was punched, hit into the trees at an alarmingly fast pace, and unable to stop. his body was at his limits, and he had already taken soldier pills. He had had it.

It was over.

***

'There!'

***

Or he thought it was until a large pair of jaws caught him, the sharp teeth in the jaws missing skewering him on their white edges.

"It looks like we came at the right time."

A voice spoke behind him, and Bear was dropped to the ground softly, before he stood up, still managing to keep his balance, even with his head spinning and dizzy.

"Who are you?" he asked, his vision blurring, a dark shadow in front of him, surrounded by a sea of darkness.

"Hatake Kakashi, Leaf nin."

Bear stood up straight, and rubbing the blood that was coming from his head out of his eyes so that he could see the infamous or rather, famous Copy Nin himself. He had to be sure that it really was him. He narrowed his eyes at the dark haired man before him, before seeing the blood red eye with black commas in it, and the scar over it.

"Good timing, Copy Nin."

***

I know, I know that I said that Kakashi would not save the day in this, but I stand by what I said.

He won't. He he…

um... the *** thingys mean that it has changed pov, which means that it is either with Kakashi, 'Wildcat' aka Sakura, or with Bear, Sakura's partner.

eg, so when it switched just before and went like this *** then 'There.' then *** again, it was Kakashi's thoughts.

By the way, The Naginata - A pole arm with a single, curved blade on one end. It is the school of the spear and, as such, is a shafted weapon. The length of its oval shaft varied, from 5' to 8', depending on battle conditions and personal requests. The most striking feature, however, was the blade; it could be anywhere from 10 inches to more than 2 feet, and was sharpened on a single side.


	18. Chapter 18

Wow… this chapter kinda just typed itself…

I hope it manages to reduce you to tears… although I am doubtful of it…

Maybe if I had cried while writing it, I might have reduced you to tears… but I didn't…

All I did was get depressed…

***

"You under estimated me."

Wildcat stood behind her, mask on face, and head cocked, at she held the kunai at the red head's throat. The senbon that had been in the woman's flaming hair were gone, all used up when she tried to finish Wildcat off. The woman was at the ANBU's mercy. Which was not much by most opinions.

"Touché."

The red head grinned, not moving an inch as she gave in to the nature of her position. She was defeated, and her body was no longer able to fight, or not at least with it being threatened by the shinobi behind her. But she still had a trump card to play yet. After all, when playing cards, you always save the best cards for last, and keep an ace up your sleeve. Fighting for her was no different than a game of cards.

And like cards, she never lost.

"But I am not finished yet…" The woman's grin became even more sadistic as she turned her head to look at the ANBU standing behind her, Wildcat falling to her knees, her hands to her head as she felt a powerful genjutsu try to take her over. Her inner tried to stop it, like she normally would, but this woman was an expert. No, even better than an expert. It was her kekkei genkai.

'No.' she thought, as her world turned into blackness, and from the dark, came her doom.

***

A silver haired man stood in front of her, his hair gleaming, standing out like a silver beacon to Sakura. He turned to her, smiling approaching her and kissing her on the cheek, his eyes aglow with love.

'This must be a dream…' Sakura thought, as she kissed him on the mouth, their soft lips meeting and caressing each other.

She pulled back, her eyes wide with amazement and love for the man in front of her. She loved everything about him, but his eyes where her favourite. They held so much emotion, and Sakura read everything that he was feeling from that one normally visible eye.

She saw love, and caring, and trust in his face, his smiling eyes full of those emotions, before his face became a grimace, and his eyes widened in pain. He opened his mouth, to scream, but no sound came out. He looked at Sakura like she was mad, or worse, like she was his enemy, and Sakura spun around trying to find the source of Kakashi's pain.

Her hand then became visible to her eyes.

As did the kunai in it, covered in dark, crimson blood.

She was the one causing Kakashi so much pain. She was the one who was hurting him; it was her hand stabbing him in the chest, in the neck, throat, back, shoulder, arms, stomach, abdominals, legs…

It was her hand covered in his blood.

Her hand that stabbed him in the throat, making the life fade from his beautiful eyes, coloured like a summer rainstorm, and the sharingan.

'No, it was not us.' Her inner spoke up, over the shock of seeing Kakashi die.

'This is only a genjutsu, now snap out of it!'

***

Wildcat stood up from her knees, where she had fallen, and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, pulling the naginata blade from her shoulder where it had just been stabbed into. Her anger and emotions clouded the pain, and her training also helped her to ignore it. The pain was nothing, and her emotions did nothing to cloud her judgement and strategy skills like they did her pain. She stood, rising up from the dirt, her eyes boring into the red head's eyes, a plan already coming to mind.

It had just become more personal for her.

"You will die."

***

Kakashi looked at the ANBU man standing in front of him. The man had on a blank mask, just like the dead bodies had had, and he was watching the trees anxiously, his eyes darting from trunk to trunk, before closing in pain.

"You are tired." Kakashi commented, all of his dogs disappearing in a flash of smoke, except for Pakkun. "You need to rest, but first, tell me what happened."

The ANBU turned to him, shaking his head slowly, prepared to leap off into the trees back in the direction he had come from. "It will take too long to explain, and I have a job to do, to help my partner."

Kakashi leapt with his fellow leaf nin, landing a split second before the ANBU on the tree. He glanced at the ANBU, and nodded, agreeing.

"Give me the short story as we go."

***

Green chakra surrounded her hands, becoming a sharp blade. Wildcat stood in front of the woman, who looked shocked and scared.

"But you-"

"Are a medic, and I have perfect chakra control and can dispel almost any genjutsu."

Wildcat finished, healing her shoulder, the blood that had been pouring from her shoulder stopping. The stab wound healed, and disappeared as she stalked forward, her chakra changing into a chakra blade, ready to fight.

The woman flipped backwards a good distance from the medic, but could not dodge all of the senbon in time. The small shards of metal had been in Wildcat's hand since the beginning of the fight, and the red head had forgotten about them.

The black clad ANBU pursued the red head, hunting her down with the green chakra blade, bouncing off trees, and smashing them in the process. They fought, naginata against chakra blade and senbon, the fight destroying a good part of the forest surrounding them. Just as Sakura thought that she had the woman and was about to finish her off, the woman's ace came into play.

A shadow appeared at the edge of the fight, and then flew forward, smashing into Wildcat and sending her flying into the remaining trunk of a tree cut down by their fighting. Wildcat was stunned for less than a millisecond, and was ready to fight again, but in pain from the hit that she had taken.

A pain that she could not ignore, and leave untended to.

The woman noticed Wildcat's distraction and ran forward, leaping neatly over Hawk and slicing at Wildcat. Wildcat dodged the naginata, flipping back and accidentally leaving an opening that the red head took advantage of.

The silver blade shot forward, thrusting through flesh, and organs into Wildcat's chest.

She fell to her knees, again, her blood dripping off the blade and into the earth, soaking what was left of the grass red. Wildcat looked up at the woman, who was grinning triumphantly.

"Taken down by your own comrade, what a way to go." She sneered, twisting the pole in her hands, causing Wildcat to wince, and gasp. "And also by your partner's incompetence, even better."

"That's… what… you… think…" Wildcat gasped out, fists clenched and head down looking at the ground, before the mask and head tilted up, the holes where the eyes were glaring at the red head's.

A hand hit the back of the red head's neck, sending her into unconsciousness, and taking Hawk with her.

***

Kakashi stood at the edge of the battle ground, watching the ANBU. Bear hit the red head woman and knocking her and the other man unconscious. He watched as Bear caught his partner as she fell to the ground, landing on her side, the naginata blade still producing from her chest. Bear was shaking her, obviously trying to make her respond to his voice.

He stopped shaking her, and leant down to her head, listening to her speak. Kakashi could hear what she was saying with his adapted hearing, even from the distance that he was standing.

"Good timing…" she coughed, her head turning towards Bear's head.

"Well, it was my turn to help you out with your battle, since you helped me out with mine when we went on our first mission…" Bear sounded like he was upset, and grieving, unlike the cool, collected ANBU from when Kakashi met him. Kakashi guessed that the two had worked together for either many years, or were very close.

"I knew… you… were… there… But... not... him..." The ANBU woman murmured, breathing hard as she looked to the sky. "If you had not killed her, my clone in the trees would have… It left when I felt you coming…"

"You would have outsmarted her anyway."

The woman chuckled, her chest heaving and the blood pouring out. "Yes… but I was not expecting Hawk to attack… he would have ruined it… it took almost all of my chakra to try and stop my heart from collapsing… the senbon in my back… his hit dug them deeper into my back, and almost killing me…"

Bear looked at her. "You can heal yourself." He stated bluntly, lifting her into a sitting position. "What can I do to help?"

"Pull the senbon from my back." She instructed, telling him as he did so, "They are still a danger to my heart, so I need them to be gone before I try to heal my chest."

"Try…" Bear murmured, dropping the metal weapons on to the ground.

"Yes, try to heal… I don't know if I have enough chakra…" his partner coughed, pulling half of her mask up so that she could spit the blood on the ground. She had pale skin, and her lips were stained red with her blood dripping from them.

'She looks familiar…' Kakashi thought, then throwing the idea away before his mind could properly think about it.

"We still need to find the others…" the woman muttered, her hand touching Bear's shoulder to get his attention.

"Yes." Bear looked up at Kakashi, nodding to him.

Kakashi nodded back, and swiftly melted back into the trees, Pakkun already gotten the red head's sent, and following it back to the town area, where her gang would be waiting. He left Bear and his seemingly doomed partner behind.

She had said that she had used up most of her chakra.

You can not heal without chakra.

Kakashi sighed, running his hand through his hair, feeling sorry for the ANBU shinobi, and his injured partner. He knew what it was like to be the cause of a team mate's death, and felt for Bear. If Bear had been able to stop the other man from getting back to her and the red haired woman, then the ANBU kunoichi would have beaten the red head anyway.

It was all a matter of timing… or lack of it.

Being late.

As Kakashi ran, he felt other things creep into his mind. Memories of being too late to save Rin… and fears of being too late to tell Sakura of his feelings. The ideas that had tried to consume him while he watched Bear and his partner.

He loved Sakura, and knew that. He also knew that something had happened between him and her, hence his sudden decision to take the dangerous mission and go. He was not right for her, and he could not stand it if she got hurt, because of him. He did not want her to be another loved one taken from him by this curse that he had, and he did not want to hurt her. He had to save her, from himself. But then...

He loved her. He wanted her to be there for him, and to kiss him like she had that night. He wanted to hold her close, and never let her go. He knew that he would not be able to control himself if she began going out with someone else; the jealousy would consume him. Although he had never been the jealous type, he knew with Sakura that he wuld try and chase off any to guy so much as look at her in the wrong way. Hell, he would feel like puching the guy if he so much as made Sakura smile and laugh, in that special way that made her look warmer than the sun, and made him feel all soft and bubbly. He could not live without her. He would not die without seeing her face again.

'You cannot control fate, your past has proved that to you time and time again. You will die, sooner or later, whether you like it or not.' his little annoying, pesimistic self tried to discourage him.

'No I promised myself that I would survive and get back to her to tell her about how I feel…' he thought, killing those fears, or trying to, but instead locking them up deep inside himself.

'But what if she does not…' the voice in his mind whispered, not explaining the thought, but not needing to.

Kakashi ran faster, getting to the town in a matter of minutes, and finding the place where the woman's scent was coming from with Pakkun's help.

"Thanks Pakkun." He said, gratefully to the pug, who shrugged and looked up at his master shrewdly.

"No problems…" the pug gave a dog grin, before becoming morbid, fast. "You seemed preoccupied with your thoughts. What are you doing?"

Kakashi looked unreadably at the door to the shop in front of him, and shrugged, much like his loyal dog had just before him. When he answered the question, the dog was long gone, and he had already caught the rest of the woman's gang; the question was being asked by the female shinobi that had been saved with her partner, and the rest of the teams sent to save her that were not found dead.

His reply was sad, almost depressed.

"Just thinking…"

***

I feel so sorry for Kakashi… he does not know that it was Sakura who was the ANBU member… Ah… poor Kakashi… told you that he did not 'save the day'…

The next chapter will be even more heavy, once I write it… Depressing stuff…

But…

Yes there is a 'but'…

You can convince me otherwise than the plan of the plot that I am thinking… I am still undecided on whether I should kill Sakura off, and end this story as a tragedy, or to let her live, and force Kakashi and her together…

Read, and review, to tell me what you want me to do!

Should I change the genre to tragedy or not...


	19. Chapter 19

You still have a chance.

She is not dead yet, but could be soon…

Will she die? Or not?

Nah, just kidding!

***

An ANBU member darted through the trees, and leaped over the gate into Konoha, not waiting to verify with the guards, but instead hurrying towards the Hokage tower, the precious body in his arms needing to get to the tower, and to a certain individual there as soon as possible.

Bear had helped her as much as he could, giving her some of his depleted chakra to try and make her heal herself. She had had a small amount of chakra left, and added with the undersized mass that he gave her, she would have brought herself an extra half an hour, maybe more, maybe less. Her estimates had not been perfect, and had not been calculating the other ANBU member who had seen them and wasted precious minutes asking what Bear was doing.

She was still conscious, her eyes watching the sky still under her blank mask. The black gear that she had on was wet with her blood, but unseeable. Bear's hands were crimson though, proving how deadly the amount of blood that she was losing was.

Her hands were stained too, but when he pointed it out to her when she was healing, she only laughed, coughing up more blood, and still chuckling, explained that when she was working in the hospital it was common for her hands to covered in blood, and for her to be scrubbing blood out from under her finger nails, her skin pink from scrubbing and from the red liquid.

She gave a faint noise, in between a mew and a gasp as she coughed, blood dribbling from under the mask. Bear sped up, putting as much into his run as he could, pushing the remains of his chakra to his feet as he catapulted up into the air, grabbing hold of the ledge of the window of a small office in the tower.

He manoeuvred himself through the window, knowing that although the Hokage would be unhappy to say the least about the blood on her window ledge, carpet, wood and other items in the office, she would be happy to see her apprentice… or at least happy to see her still alive and conscious.

"What the-" the blonde haired woman spun on her high heels, turning to the ANBU member with a scowl on her face. Her jaw dropped as she saw the injuries of the ANBU member.

"She said that only you or her could heal them, and that Shizune would not be able to do it fast enough. She has almost no chakra left." Bear spoke up, as fast as he could, as he pulled the blank mask off, Sakura's pink hair dropping out from the hood, and her pale face, drained of blood and stained lips showing through. Her normally bright green sparkling eyes were dark, almost a dull gray colour.

"Shi…shou…" she murmured, the gray orbs turning to her. She muttered words under her breath that Bear could not understand, but the Hokage obviously could.

"SHIZUNE!!!"

"What-" Shizune's head popped in, only to gasp when she saw Sakura on the desk, cleared of anything other than her cut open and bleeding body.

"Shit!" she managed to say as she looked to the Hokage for orders. Tsunade did not disappoint her, speaking in a loud, commanding voice.

"Get the other medics, NOW!"

***

Kakashi walked through the gates to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and looked at the guards, nodding at them. Kotetsu and Izumo shook their heads when they thought that he was unable to see, but he was. They looked… odd to say the least, like they pitied him, or felt sorry for him. He had only just returned, and already people were giving him weird looks.

He had sent a letter to the Hokage not three days before to tell her that he had changed his mind about the mission. He had managed to convince the Hokage to let him go on a scouting mission, even though Jiraiya was already out there looking out for the Akatsuki. And now he had convinced her to let him come back.

She had practically ordered him back.

Strange to say the least.

***

Tsunade rushed into the hospital, followed by several medics and other people. They ran, sprinting down a corridor while pulling a trolley with a body on it.

Pink hair flashed as they turned a corner, rushing towards the emergency room. Tsunade spared a glance at her apprentice, her heart aching, and mind racing, listing the treatments and calculating the amounts of chakra needed, and the number of medics needed for the surgery.

It was her way of coping with the possible loss of a patient.

And Sakura's way too.

Or maybe it was.

***

Kakashi walked down the streets, head in his orange book.

He knew when something was up. His instincts were sharp, and they were telling him that something was wrong.

Wrong with the way people were still looking at him. He thought that the guards might have been plain crazy or something, but it wasn't just the guards that seemed to pity him, but shinobi in general did too. They all gave him the same pitying look, like they had when his mother killed herself, or when his best friend died. Most of them looked curious as well, and seemed to be trying to ask others something.

He passed a bar, and looked in to see Naruto and Sasuke sitting in there, a glass of untouched drink in front of them. He raised an eyebrow curiously, thinking that they looked rather… depressed. He shrugged, walking into the bar just in time to see another man join them, along with two women.

The man, Kakashi vaguely recognised, although he could not name the man, nor say exactly where he had seen the man, but there was something about his shape…

The two women Kakashi could recognise rather easily; Kurenai and Anko. Rather unusual for them to be drinking with Naruto and Sasuke… not to mention the strangely familiar man. He walked over to them anyway, shrugging off the bad feeling that was lingering in his stomach.

"Yo."

The group looked at him, eyes wide and shocked.

"Ka…" Naruto swallowed, trying again. "Kaka-sensei…"

Kakashi looked at his student like he was stupid, feeling slightly put off that his own student, who had taught since he was twelve did not recognise him. "Yes? It's rather early for a drink, don't you think?"

Naruto gave a bitter laugh, gulping down a drink. Sasuke only glared at the silver haired shinobi, his eyes showing out of the ordinary emotion; disappointment and anger.

"You would know the time, wouldn't you?" he commented, his tone full of disgust and contempt. "You were always late."

Kakashi looked confused, things just weren't adding up. he looked to Kurenai and Anko, only to find the red eyed woman crying, her hands over her face, while Anko looked like Sasuke, her anger not half hidden, but showing in her face as she glared at the Copy Nin. The other man shook his head, speaking up for the first time.

"I did not know that she was your student."

"Bear?"

***

Tsunade pumped chakra to her hands, the last one standing out of the original eight that had started the surgery. She was almost out of chakra, but Sakura was still not out of the danger zone.

Almost three days of non stop healing.

Tsunade had released her age jutsu, using the chakra instead to heal her apprentice. A life was worth so much more than her look of youth. Especially the life of her apprentice, whom she considered a daughter. Shizune, and the other medics had been moved out of the E.R. as soon as they fainted, after giving it there all and almost depleting themselves of chakra.

Sakura had underestimated her own injuries.

***

"Bear."

Kakashi repeating, realising that that was who the man was, finally recognising the voice. He would have thought that the man would have had dark hair, and dark eyes, maybe looking strong and manly, but the man standing in front of him was blond haired, his hair golden, not yellow like Naruto's hair. He had blue eyes as well, more of a green and blue grey mix.

Not exactly what Kakashi would have thought.

Then he remembered, feeling bad for not asking sooner. "How is your partner, the one that had been stabbed?"

Bear looked at him, a look of anger, pity, frustration and melancholy in his eyes.

"She is in the hospital, still in surgery.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and Sasuke, his dark eye unreadable. "Is Sakura there, I need to speak to her about something."

Naruto just looked sadder, his eyes losing their glow and his bright smile long gone. He nodded, not trusting him self to speak. His eyes filled with tears as he looked up at Kakashi.

"I don't think that you could talk to her now though…"

_And hold on_

_Before it's too late_

Then it clicked for Kakashi.

It was Sakura.

_Until we leave this behind_

It had been her all along.

She was the one in hospital.

_Don't fall_

_Just be who you are_

She was the one that was stabbed, while he had been watching, emotionless.

_It's that we need in our life._

It was her that had been on the brink of death.

_So live like you mean it_

_Love 'til you feel it_

His eyes filled with tears too, as the pennies dropped, with a dull clinking noise into the still pond that was Kakashi's mind. The ripples spread out in his mind as he figured out the effects for him.

_It's all that we need in our lives_

He might have lost his chance to tell her.

He had been an idiot to run.

_So stand on the end with me_

His fears had been proven right.

_Hold back your fear and see_

He had lost her.

_Nothing is real 'til it's gone_

***

No comment.

…

The song lyrics that I used are from the song, Before It's Too Late, by the Goo Goo Dolls.

You can guess why I used it...

Other than read, and review.

And… What did you think? I thought that I would leave her alive, since I got so many reviews telling me to! Maybe I should put the main characters life in danger more often to get more reviews!!!!

Just kidding, I wouldn't do that to you.


	20. Chapter 20

Hey guys, here's chapter 20.

btw, thanks to some stupid people called 'hackers' that have been sending viruses to my computer, i will not be updating as often, and nor will i be looking around on the intenet as often.

thanks a bunch... :p

***

Kakashi sat in the hall way outside the operating room, on the cold ground, forcing himself to fight the urge to run as fast as he could away from the strong, clean, sterile hospital smell. He ignored the overwhelming scent of blood, and concentrated on the slight smell of vanilla and musk smell that was lingering in the room in front of him.

He waited, his eyes not shifting from the door that he was currently staring at. He did not eat, knowing that she was in a danger that he could have prevented. He could not sleep.

Not when the nightmares that used to haunt his childhood returned. The faceless man with the silver hair, and the pretty faced young woman with black hair replaced by a young woman, her face turned form him, her pink hair almost violet in the soft light of the night.

He waited.

And waited.

A nurse left the room, carrying a doctor who had passed out, his chakra signature so low that Kakashi could almost not sense it. The door swung open, the two leaving, and then it swung shut again, the slamming noise that it made sounding so formal and final to his ears.

He waited.

Time passed, hours passed. Doctors and nurses rushed by. Injured and dying people were pulled by, their last noises, and painful gasps heard by the mysterious and statue like man by the door. He sat in the hallway, not moving, barely breathing, not sleeping, not eating, not drinking.

Only thinking.

But the door was still shut.

And so he still waited.

***

The pain Sakura must have gone through. How she must have hurt when she saw him, and knew that she could not tell him that it was her while she was on a mission.

He did not even know that she had gotten into Ibiki's ANBU squads.

Only the best got into it.

Not that he did not know that she was the best, and that she was an amazing shinobi. Not that he did not admire her, and how she had grown. Not that he was still surprised that the Hokage had seen her potential and shaped her to use it to it's full use, to her full purpose.

He was just shocked that she had accepted it. That she had wanted to try and do harder missions, and put her life at risk. She had shown no interest in it before, and did not seem too worried about furthering her career any more. She was an amazing medic, and had even surpassed Tsunade. She could crush boulders with her pinkie, and punch a fully grown man through a tree with little effort. Her chakra control was perfect.

Why had he left her? Why did he desert her?

Why had he not trained her harder, shown her more attention when she was younger, instead of ignoring her and protecting her? Why had he not spoken to her more? Asked her questions on how she was going under Tsunade's tutelage? Offered to teach her some of the strong genjutsus' that he had picked up with the sharingan?

Why did he act so cowardly?

She might not have been in the situation that she was in if he had done some of those things.

***

Kakashi closed his eye, his mind providing him with a good image of how he was feeling.

Water rising higher around him, as he tried to float in the darkness; the cold, chilling presence of death churning around him. He tried to take a breath, and keep his mind off the fact that his heart was breaking, his mind was failing, his body shaking.

***

It made sense to him now, why Tsunade had ordered him back.

She might not know why he had run, but she knew that although the Akatsuki mission he was on was useful if he found them, it could take months, and be completely useless if he did not succeed. And the success rate was low anyway. It was not like the Akatsuki told everyone where their hideout was. They were hard to track down, and it was like looking for a blade of grass in a field. Impossible.

Just like how his relationship with Sakura would be.

Impossible.

***

He took another breath.

He counted to ten.

He counted to one hundred.

He counted to one from one hundred backwards.

***

Even if she liked him.

The age difference would be too much. He had known her since she was twelve. He had been twenty six at the time. He was her teacher then, and it had been his responsibility to watch out for her, teach her and mould her mind into being a shinobi.

She had been a young girl, not even mature enough to be called a teenager, and not still a child. She had been an annoying, false, superficial, girlish child, with an obsessive crush on her team mate, who did not like her back, and found her to be useless and annoying; a weakness to the team and a burden, then later knocked her out and left her on a bench.

He had been a mature man, who had experienced the more pleasurable and less pleasant parts of life. He had become a jounin when he had been her age, and seen death since the age of four. He had grown up too quickly, while she had been babied, and protected almost all of her life.

He was commonly known as a pervert, and read Icha Icha books in public. Hell, he had even read them as he taught her when she was fresh out of the academy. People would talk, and say that he had been grooming her since gennin, and that he was a perverted old man, preying on his student, the poor apprentice of the Hokage, the victim in the relationship.

Or that she was a slut, who was trying to become higher levelled in the shinobi society by sleeping with her teacher, and giving him sexual favours in exchange for him to use his connections and power as one of the most well known and powerful shinobi in the village to do so.

He knew what the rumours would be, and knew how cruel the people of the village could be.

He had experienced it, and seen it first hand.

***

Tsunade sat back on her heels, before fainting, falling backwards to the ground unconscious, her last thought swirling hazily in her head. A nurse, who had seen her fall back, grabbed her just as she fell, another nurse moving fast to help. They grabbed the wheeling bed that they had used to pull Sakura in on, and lifted the Hokage onto it, pushing through the doors, ignoring the silver haired man who tood at their appearance, his form devilish and mussed as he looked to them for news.

They rushed by him, one of the nurses calling for the next medic to enter the room and take over Tsunade's duties. They did not say whether the pink haired shinobi was okay, nor did they say that she was taking a turn for the worse. He had no verbal news from them.

But their voices said it all.

***

'She's out of the danger zone now…'

'She's okay…'

***

Concerned. But no longer panicked.

Tired. But no longer frustrated.

Relieved. No longer worried.

***

Kakashi felt his lungs finally take in the air that he needed. He had held his breath as he heard the door opening. He had waited for some sign that she was okay. He had been given that sign, and, although his heart was still hammering in his chest, it was a steady sound, a low thumping that ringed in his ears, instead of the fast, furious fluttering of humming bird wings that he had been feeling before.

Although outwardly, he looked the same as ever, lazy drooping eye, slouching posture against the wall, nose crinkled in disgust of the smell, skin pale, hair messed up, he was different.

He was relieved.

Kakashi felt the water that had been threatening to drown him, recede, the tide turning after a long, lonely few hours. He was treading water now, not drowning in it, the darkness collapsing under the light of dawn and the rising sun.

***

I will still get the chance to tell her.

I have the opportunity to hug her, and hold her in my arms and whisper words to her ears.

I have the ability to right my mistakes.

I can still dream.

***

Ta da!!! She will survive!!!

Lots of Kakashi's thoughts there... Just so that you know what he is thinking further on in the chapters... wink wink, nudge nudge... ;p

Don't worry, for those wondering, they will end up together, and no, I wont make Sakura take a turn for the worse.

I'm not quite that cruel!


	21. Chapter 21

More thinking and stuff... sorry, a bit boring, but nessassary. (sp?)

But, Sakura will wake up, and Kakashi will admit something to her... Mu haha...

***

Sakura lay in her bed, her pink hair spread out like a fan around her face, a light violet colour in the light of the night sky, coming through the window. She looked angelic as she slept, unlike her normal furious and scary self with her fast burning temper. Her face was pale, her cheeks not holding the usual blushing of pink that graced her face, and her bright emerald eyes covered by her pale and thin eyelids. Her hands, like her face, were white and looked small and vulnerable, especially when next to Kakashi's large, calloused ones.

She looked fragile… vulnerable… in need of protection.

Or it could just be the light…

Kakashi had been sleeping next to her side, as soon as she was moved out of the E.R. and into a normal recovery room. He did not stay with her during the day, as much as he wanted to. He did not want her to wake up with out him by her side, but he was not sure if she would want him to be next to her when she woke up.

He was not sure if she wanted to be with him, and to be seen with him. He did not want to put pressure on her, so he had decided to only sit next to her at night, watching her, and thinking, before falling asleep.

He looked down at her face, his eyes deep and full of emotion as he looked at her. He had thought much about what he would do, and how he would act after she woke up. He had calculated all of the possible outcomes, judged whether they were positive or negative, guessed possible reactions and responses, and generally planned his moves. He was torn between acting cool, indifferent, and aloof around her, distancing himself from her and not getting involved, or welcoming her, loving her and telling her the truth.

Both scared him.

Not that the great copy ninja was afraid of anything…

***

Sakura was alone in the blackness. She did not know how long she had been there. She remembered faintly being hurt, the thrill of winning, and sorrow, then acceptance. But she did not know why she had had these emotions, nor where she was and what she was doing now.

The darkness was not the type of darkness that looms over your head like a black cloud. That had gone long before the current time, when Sakura had first fallen into the dark abyss. It was now a warm, lighter kind of dark, comforting, a bit like when you close your eyes to go to sleep. It was like sleeping for her.

"Hello?"

Her voice echoed as she waited for an answer. Not that she was expecting one or anything, but it would be nice to get one back, and it was always worth a try.

"Helllllloooo…? Anybody out there?"

Still no answer.

"Well… I really need to get going now… I have things to do…" She took a couple of steps forward, and paused.

"Hello?"

***

Kakashi had fallen asleep when he felt something touch his hand. He sat up instantly, his shinobi senses telling him that no one else was in the room other than him and the unconscious woman next to him. He looked down at the small hand curled up next to his, and blinked.

Her hand had been open before.

He had been tracing the curves of her fingers, and the swirling patterns of her individual prints before he had fallen asleep. He knew that he hand had been open. He had not closed it though, and if anyone had been in the room, he would have known. She must have moved her fingers.

"Sakura…?" he asked, hovering above her motionless form, waiting for an answer to his suggested question.

He was not sure if she was awake or not.

***

"Sakura…?"

"Sa… ku… ra…?"

"Saaaa…kuuuu…raaaaa… … ?"

The noise echoed, much like her voice, in the empty confinements of the darkness. She thought that she recognised the voice, but a moment later the voice had faded, and the thought slipped out of Sakura's reach. She knew that the person was important to her though.

"Where are you?" she called, hoping for an answer back. There was no reply, so she decided, if the person wouldn't come to her, she would go to them.

So she set off into the black.

***

Her fingers twitched again, and Kakashi felt a jolt of excitement run through his system. She could hear him. She was responding to him, even when the nurses and doctors had told him that she would be in her catatonic state for a week at the least as her body recovered.

"Sakura can you hear me? Try to move your fingers and respond if you can."

***

"Sakura… hear me… fingers… respond…"

The voice spoke again, but Sakura could not quite hear what he was saying. She knew that it was male, and that it was familiar. The voice made her heart pound… for some reason… she felt…

Ecstatic.

But the voice had gotten fainter to her ears. So she stopped moving forwards, guessing that she was moving in the wrong direction, and turned and headed for the opposite direction. It was hard when she could not see, but she guessed, and just kept walking.

***

Her fingers didn't move.

Kakashi felt his happiness and excitement die, and closed his eyes, wishing that she had moved, and that she could hear him. But she did not seem to, even though she seemed to have some brain activity.

She could not hear him.

He could tell her…

"I love you…"

***

"I… Love… You…"

The words echoed, and Sakura jumped. They had not gotten louder at all. They had gotten quieter, but clearer. She was very confused. The voice went fuzzy when she walked the other way, yet it went quieter when she walked forwards.

And the voice said that he loved her.

She broke into a run, hoping that she had made the right decision and continued forwards, her heart pounding as fast as her feet were. The blackness faded, and light became slanting through.

The light at the end of the tunnel.

***

Pale eyelids fluttering, but no green showing through yet, Kakashi watched stunned, as the monitor beside her bed went crazy, beeping irregularly and the line on it began jumping. He heard a nurse say something a couple of doors down, and knew that they had heard the monitor too.

He had to act fast.

Kakashi got up, glancing back at the pink haired woman in the hospital bed, his intense eyes lingering on her face and taking in her form. He put the memory stored away in his brain, before leaping out of the window before hearing the pattering footsteps of the nurse entering the room, and the door screeching open in a fast swishing noise.

He heard her say something, and then he was gone, over the rooftops like a cat in the night, speeding towards his apartment on the far side of town, his mind imprinted with one image, and chanting one thought.

Her soft face, calm, smooth, sincere. Her violet pink hair in the starlight, and the curves it made around her face, fanning out like silk around her head. Her beautiful neck, free of blemishes and the colour of cream. The way the sheets clung to her form, outlining it in soft blue and white tones.

I love you.

***

"Sakura. Sakura are you awake? Can you hear me?"

Her emerald green eyes fluttered open, and blinked a few times, taking in the anxious atmosphere and the surrounding people as she looked up into molten gold eyes of her surrogate mother, and teacher.

"Tsunade shishou?"

***

"Sakura's awake!!!"

The blond darted through the streets, knocking over people as he grinned, shouting apologies to the disgruntled shopkeepers and annoyed bystanders. He had finally caught sight of the 'adult material' reading shinobi, thanks to his unusual silver hair, and was now trying to get to the man so that he could be told the good news.

"Hm?"

Kakashi looked up from the book that he was reading… or staring at. He had not turned the page for at least three minutes… maybe four… or ten… He had been too busy thinking. It seemed to be all that he had been doing these days, since he finally saw Sakura as the woman that she was, instead of the out of bound student that she had been.

Talking of students…

Naruto had managed to push his way to his ex sensei and was now standing in front of the silver haired man, his infective grin wide, and his bright blue eyes sparkling and dancing with joy and laughter.

"Sakura's awake!!!"

***

He he, can you guess what will happen next chapter? Cause I doubt that you can!

I have the next chapter written, so don't be surprised when I put it up soon!


	22. Chapter 22

hehe... Sakura's awake now... and the fun starts... maybe after this chappie!

***

Kakashi opened the door, his footsteps quiet, dignified and catlike making no noise on the tiles following behind the loud blond. Where the blond burst into Sakura's room, his grin lighting up the room, and his voice filling the space unlit, Kakashi was quiet, his happiness and joy to see his… ex student? Beloved? Crush? Comrade awake. He gave a sigh of relief to see her sitting up in the hospital bed, her eyes glittering with her feelings of seeing her friend again.

"Naruto." Her voice was a bit dry, raspy from a couple of days of no use, and the lack of water. Tsunade, who was standing beside her student, reached to the bedside table and gave the pinkette a clear glass of water.

"Drink." She ordered, her voice strict. She watched as Sakura finished the glass in a couple of gulps, then turned back to her team mates, her face happy as she looked at Naruto and Kakashi.

"Hey."

"Is that all you can say!!!" Naruto exploded, his smile widening, as he launched himself forward to give her a bear hug. He never got that far…

"Careful with the patient! You baka!!!" A single finger, a pinkie to be exact, flicked Naruto on the forehead, making him fall to the ground, rubbing his head sulkily.

"I only wanted to give her a hug…" Naruto grumbled as Kakashi gave a low chuckle. Normally he would only smile under his mask, not chuckle at Naruto's antics, but he was in a happy mood today.

No, it had nothing to do with Sakura's recovery… cough… cough…

"Welcome back." Kakashi found himself saying, as he smiled under his mask at his favourite person. She was his very most favourite person, as she never ceased amazing him and cheering him up when he was down. While Naruto was entertaining, Sakura was charming, amusing, adora…

'Cut it out.' A part of him said. 'You will end up acting like a whipped fool…'

Sakura was smiling at him, her face full of happiness, and her eyes genuinely grateful. "Thank you."

There was a small shadow of doubt in those eyes though…

He had done nothing to save her though when she was hurt… he did not deserve her thanks. He felt his heart cool, and chose the moves that he would make.

***

Sakura watched, her hope dying as she saw Kakashi's lone stormy eye cool, becoming a cold snowstorm instead of the beautiful sun shower she loved. He did not like her. He probably just felt guilty for not being able to help her.

'No, you stupid girl! We can still make him love us!' her inner cheered, punching the air, 'Cha!'

Sakura knew that it would be harder than that though. She knew Kakashi. And she knew his stubborn streak. She had also heard that he was a real sucker for the rules when he was younger. Kurenai had told her that.

'Yeah, but she also taught you how to charm your way into his heart… duuh!' Her inner made a stupid face, rolling her eyes at the outer Sakura.

"Sakura," Tsunade looked down at the pink haired woman. "You misjudged your injuries greatly."

"I know." She had guessed from the amount of time that she was out, and all of the monitors that had been around her. She recognised all of them, and knew that if they had had them out to keep an eye on her, she must have really been a mess, even after they had healed her.

"So you will be taken out of the ANBU ranks for a short amount of time, just for your body to recover." Tsunade glared into space for a second, muttering something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'Stupid, asshole Ibiki… He was the one in the first place who got her hurt…'

"I know."

"And you will be pulled out of jounin, chunnin and gennin work as well, and limited to the perimeters of the village."

"What!!!" Sakura glared at her teacher, her eyes blazing with anger. "Why? I can still do shinobi work! I heal faster than most people think!"

Tsunade sighed, her eyes closing in thought, before opening them again. She was not a very happy Hokage at that very moment. "You think that I don't know that! I heard of your 'experiments' and got Shizune to watch over you!"

Sakura gave a sheepish grin…

Naruto just looked confused, while Kakashi looked on, emotionless.

"Huh?" Naruto rubbed his head. "I'm confused?"

Sakura waved a hand in dismissal. "Just some medic stuff Naruto. You wouldn't have to worry, you have the Kyuubi."

"Oh."

"So why are you not letting me out?!" Sakura turned to her shishou, her eyes narrowed. "You would normally be fine about this…"

"I have several reasons." Tsunade glared back at Sakura, and then looked out the window to avoid Sakura's gaze. The Hokage knew that if she looked into Sakura's eyes, she would feel guilty about the decision that she had made, and know that she would let her go… especially after the talks Ibiki had had with her.

"In other words…?" Sakura stood up, pushing back the covers, her eyes burning with anger and injustice. She did not understand, and they were treating her like a child. She was an adult, a shinobi with a lot of experience. But even her 'experience' had not prepared her for how weak she felt as she stood up, holding onto the bed for support.

Her vision went fuzzy, blurring and spinning as her head ached with vertigo and her body and muscles were too tired to hold up her weight and weak from disuse. She clenched the metal rails on the bed, swaying as she tried to catch her breath, and stop the sudden jolts of pain and pins and needles.

She felt herself pitching forward, but a pair of strong, chiselled arms caught her, depositing her back onto the bed carefully. Kakashi held her upright as she caught her breath back and looked down at the floor, both in embarrassment, and motion sickness.

"Because you are not fully recovered, and we don't want you to get hurt." Kakashi had tried to make his voice as patient and strict as possible, but it did not come out that way, and instead came out as harsh and frustrated. Not at all what he was aiming for.

Tsunade gave a snort of annoyance, and then sighed with exhaustion. "Kakashi is right, for once." She ignored the look that Kakashi gave her, and Naruto's barely covered laughs… coughs. "You are not in the right state to go on a mission, and you have already been seriously injured. You are acting like the shinobi patients that you used to complain so much about, when they escaped the hospital and went right back out on the field to injure themselves again."

Sakura's cheeks blushed a bright red at the scolding she was getting, and how stupidly, stubbornly blind she had been. Tsunade had already told her that her injures were worse than she thought… and she thought that she was more than likely going to die… It took the Hokage's reprimanding to get her to see that too.

"Now, will you quit acting like Kakashi, when we do finally manage to get him in the hospital, and sit back and heal?" Tsunade looked down at the thoroughly embarrassed kunoichi, and smiled motherly at her.

"Yes Shishou." Sakura was meek, her voice speaking out in volumes her regret and apology.

Tsunade nodded, and then walked to the door, speaking, "I will be going now, being Hokage means that I am a very busy person, and now that you know the drill, I need to get going." She paused at the door, and then with a wicked grin, turned to Kakashi, her eyes glinting with a mix of mischievousness and intimidation.

"You. My office. Now."

***

Kakashi gulped as he watched the Hokage walk out of the room, and cursed the gods that made him annoy the golden eyed woman so much. He knew that he had not done anything to cause her anger… unless you count the fact that he did not try to help Sakura when she was injured… but he had not known it was her, and he was already beating himself up about that more than what the Hokage would… and she knew that.

There also was the fact that he had been spending the nights in the room where Sakura had been sleeping…

But she couldn't know that…

Would she?

***

Naruto grinned, as he pounced up and down in the visitor's chair that he was sitting in. He looked overjoyed to see his team mate alive, and he had some news to tell her.

"Sakura-chan!" his voice was excited and happy, but he did not notice when his friend's was not.

"What."

"Guess what?!!!"

Sakura sighed, her head still hurting from her little exercise and making an ass of herself. "What is it Naruto-baka. I am tired, and my head hurts, I should really be going back to sleep, or at least resting, PEACEFULLY."

Naruto's face fell a bit, before brightening up. "Oh… well I have something that will make you feel better!" he pulled out two bunches of flowers from the plastic bag that had been sitting next to his feet. Sakura felt confused, and disappointed in herself. She had not managed to notice the plastic bag next to Naruto. Some ninja she was!

She smiled anyway, thinking that it was a good surprise, and then held out her arms to hold the bouquets of flowers. She pulled the two separate bouquets apart and looked down to identify the flowers, using the knowledge that Ino had taught her to figure out the flowers and their meanings.

She smiled at the blossoming peonies. That one was easy and simple to guess as its meaning. The beautiful rippling soft yellow coloured flowers meant healing. The smaller star shaped flowers were Stars of Bethlehem which meant hope. Together with the Star of Bethlehem the peonies, the person who sent the soft yellow coloured bouquet was hoping for her to feel better.

Ino. She must have been the one to send them. The small card attached to the flowers told Sakura that, as she saw Ino's elegant handwriting, telling her to get better and to come down to the shop as soon as she was out.

The second lot were nice, not to mention expensive. It was made up of deep, velvet purple orchids, mixed with smaller, but just as striking and beautiful, shades of purple blue pansies. A strange mixture, and hard to make work, with the blue purple of the smaller flowers and the deep, pinky purple colour of the orchids.

Loving thoughts, and delicate beauty.

But who would have given her those?

***

The door shut behind Kakashi, making a final slamming noise that he had always hated.

"Kakashi."

Tsunade's voice was calm, telling Kakashi nothing about what the Hokage was thinking. The only thing that he could do was to stand tall, wait for her judgement… and be prepared to jump out the window and make a run for it.

Then again he could always stand tall, wait for her judgement and then stand up for his beliefs and feelings. Not to mention try not to get the Hokage irritated with him.

"-so that's what I have decided." Tsunade was talking, enjoying seeing the nervous look that Kakashi had, in the way that he stood up straight, and the way that his gaze was jumping around the room. She enjoyed making him nervous. Not many could make the great Copy Nin nervous, and jump with fright at the most basic signs of angry behaviour, and the Hokage enjoyed having that power over the silver haired man.

It was obvious that he wasn't listening.

And it was normal, no absolute, that the Hokage got annoyed when not being listened to, or ignored. Which Kakashi was clearly doing.

'He's probably thinking of all possible escape exits right at this moment. Either that, or wondering what the next chapter of his messed up book he is up to…' Tsunade grinned evilly… inside her head. Outwardly, she was gathering a look of anger and threatening pain.

"Kakashi…"

'Oh shit.' Kakashi thought, cursing his bad luck. 'Of course she will get angry with me. She does every time I walk into her office. Although, normally because I'm late…'

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

"Hmmmm."

Tsunade sighed, her face changing from angry to mocking, as she shook her head sadly. "And to think I will be trusting the health of my student in your hands."

Kakashi paused, his lone eye changing slightly, wanting to be shocked, but managing to control his surprise and come back with a comeback. "Hands, might I say, which are very talented at looking after the needs of others… especially women." He gave her a smile under his mask, his eye crinkling as the golden woman clench her fists, and began shouting.

"YOU DARE AND I WILL HUNT DOWN EVERY ONE OF THOSE GOD DAMNED BOOKS OF YOURS, BURN THEM, SCATTER THE ASHES, AND THEN THREATEN JIRAIYA IF HE DARES TO GIVE YOU ANY MORE COPIES!!!"

Kakashi shrugged, "Fine then. But I must say that I will have a hard time fulfilling my duty as a caregiver if I am not allowed to assist her."

"You know what I mean brat." The Hokage's voice was stern, and meant business. Kakashi recognised that and nodded. He knew how much Sakura meant to the woman, they were practically mother and daughter.

"I promise, that I will look after her, Hokage-sama."

***

Hehe… Kakashi looking after Sakura…

Now, I know what you are all thinking. But… prepare to be surprised.

I did not make it easy for them before, and I will certainly not make it easy for them still. That would ruin all of the work that I have put into it!


	23. Chapter 23

He he... and the plot thickens...

Mu ha ha ha ha... he he!

***

Sunlight poured through the open window, leaving dancing rainbow lights on the floor, as it filtered through a small glass vase on the window sill. The glass looked precious, like a perfect crystal, shined and polished to catch and reflect the light to make it look amazing. The look was finished off with a small, lone daffodil in the vase, the warm yellow and orange colours stopping the vase from looking cold and ice like, and giving it a simple, yet comforting image.

Sakura sat up in her bed, looking at it, her mind ticking slowly.

She had fallen asleep, not long after Naruto had left. After much talking, he had left, telling her who had given her the last bouquet of flowers. It turned out that Sakura had a good friend, where she did not know it.

What she meant, was that she had a friend, who really cared enough to say, heck with the money, I will go out and spend it on a fortune worth of flowers, and give them to my friend who almost died, even though I was warned that the flowers would die in a few days or less. More than likely less, because they are rare to find in Konoha.

Sakura shook her head, her eyes roaming the room until they settled on the vase holding the flowers that she was thinking about. They were beautiful though, and made the room smell like a garden. Quite a few of the nurses had been coming in to check up on her, just so that they could smell the flowers and walk out with a hint of perfume smelling of flowers. That was how strong the smell was, but it was not over powering. At least, it wasn't for Sakura.

But when she had been awake, there had not been the vase with the daffodil on the window sill. Some one must have gotten her the flower and put it in her room… But not many people knew that she liked daffodils… only the odd person who she had mentioned it to. Ino didn't know, Naruto might know, as she did tell him on time, but that was when they were gennin that she told him that. There was no doubt that Naruto would have forgotten that detail, unless prompted by someone else.

No matter who it was that gave them to her, Sakura still loved the small vase and its occupant, and spent much of her time looking at the elegant flower and thinking to herself. Mostly about what she had thought were her last moments alive.

Sakura would have no trouble telling people what she wanted before she died now, especially after her close call. When the blade had gone through her chest, she had been cursing to herself… or at least her inner had been. Sakura had been too shocked when she had felt Kakashi and Bear enter the clearing to call her clone to help. She was not able to stop the woman from stabbing her, even if the clone had turned up though. She had not planned on Hawk turning up either.

A momentary brain lapse that Sakura would make sure would not happen again.

She found pleasure knowing that Bear was there to stop the target before she got away, and that her plan had not completely failed, although she had been doubtful that would make it out alive from the encounter.

Seeing Kakashi standing in the trees near her had broken her heart. She knew then, that she had done her job well as one of Ibiki's recruits, if her own sensei did not recognise her after a couple of months of training.

Then, that training had set in, both the medical one, and the team ANBU training. She had assessed her chakra level, then her injuries, and tried to heal as much as she could, and so that she would be out of the worst of the danger. Then, the next thing that she had thought about was the lost team mates.

Bear sent Kakashi away, making Sakura feel alone, even though she knew that she was not. But he had been so close…

Even as she looked at the slowly moving rainbow diamond on the side of the window, Sakura could not deny that she had felt disappointed that Kakashi had gone, and had not figured out that it was her. Her image of him was so high, she thought that he could beat anyone, and was invincible, yet he was only human, and had his flaws just like her.

Instead of her being sad about it, she was also happy, as it meant that she could relate even better to him than before. They were more equals than they had been before he had left the village. She had gotten stronger, and pulled her way through the ranks in the time he was gone.

As Bear had carried her back to Konoha, she had felt only minor regret and annoyance that she had not managed to do the things that she had always wanted to do. The first thing on her list had been to stand in front of Kakashi, kiss him on the lips and tell him that she loved him. Then she felt slightly better, because she would tell him how she felt, in her letter, once he got it. But then, a letter is no where near as good as a kiss.

A mental list had been made, of things Sakura wanted to do before she died.

Kiss Kakashi. Tell him how she felt about him. Tell Tsunade that she had always looked up to her, and seen her as her second mother. Sleep with Kakashi. Buy a house with a garden, and grow flowers. Share the house with Kakashi. Dance in the rain with someone she loved. Probably with Kakashi.

Fly.

Although Sakura was rather doubtful that she would fly before she died, the other thoughts were mainly taken from a daydream she had had as she was being carried back to Konoha. That was what she had distracted herself with when the pain got bad, and would probably what she would use every time it happened again.

Then there had been the moment when she thought that she was gone, when she knew that she had reached the precarious edge of the cliff, when she was balancing on the sharp blade point of the knife, ready to fall. She was barely able to tell that her shishou was there, as she fell, blacking out into the chasm waiting for her.

That was it.

She found out later that it had taken more than full three days to heal her out of the danger zone, and that many medics had fainted of chakra loss while healing. Hell, even Tsunade had blacked out. And that was after using all of her chakra from her special jutsu…

Sakura was still amazed at the amount of strength that her shishou had. There was no doubt that even with all of her gambling and alcohol problems, Tsunade was a great leader of the village and a strong shinobi worthy of the title Hokage. When some people said that she had become as strong, if not stronger than the Hokage, Sakura would laugh. And now, Sakura would still laugh, before telling them how strong the amazing woman and role model to her was.

"Are you any feeling better?"

Pale eyes scanned the room, inspecting the pink haired woman, before Sakura turned a dazzling smile to the Hyuuga.

"Neji-san. I am feeling much better thank you, and how are you feeling? I heard that your team had a run in with some pretty strong shinobi on your last mission."

Sakura looked for injuries on the Hyuuga, her words holding more meaning behind them than what they normally would. As she had found out, she did not know how good a friend she had with the Hyuuga until he had given the flowers to Naruto to give to her, and she found out that he had come to the hospital every day to find out the verdict on her health.

Neji nodded his head, his expression calm and controlled. He always looked like that. It as very rare for the young man to smile and laugh, although he had gotten better over the years, as his hate towards the main line of his clan disintegrated and he let himself feel his emotions. He still kept them under iron control, but was ready to give kind words and help out a friend when they needed a hand.

His eyes saw everything just as clearly, if not in better light than what they did before, and he could see the improvement in her colour and health as he looked down her body and into her eyes to try and find out just how good she was feeling. He had seen her when she was still asleep from the surgery, and she had looked like a corpse then, all pale and cold, her blood thin and travelling through her system slowly and in small amounts. If it had not been for his keen eyes, he would have thought that she had died.

"You are looking much better." He observed, nodding towards window and out into the street. "No doubt you are sick of this place and want to get out." He added, seeing how she had been looking out the window, lost in thought.

Sakura laughed, smiling at the Hyuuga. "Too true. I would be trying to escape much like how Kakashi-senpai does if it weren't for the fact that I know how annoyed the medics get when patients don't listen."

"Not to mention the Hokage has forbidden you from leaving."

"That too…" Sakura admitted, surprised that Neji knew that fact too. "How did you-"

"Naruto."

"Oh." That explained it. Naruto was one of the first to become friends with the Hyuuga, and was the reason that Neji had changed from the cold, angry genius that he had been before, to the perceptive, reserved, but no less genius, young man that he was now. Naruto would rave to anyone he would see about the latest news he had, and no doubt Naruto would have had a training session with Neji in the time that she had been in the hospital, awake.

"Hn." Neji made a small grunt, agreeing with the thoughts that he thought Sakura was thinking. It was not hard to guess how she was figuring out how Neji learnt of her 'prison sentence'.

"What did Naruto tell you?" Sakura asked, wondering what detail and exaggeration he went into this time. Normally what began as a simple little kid accidentally throwing his ball over the fence and hitting Naruto, changed into some secret ambush plan from genetically enhanced kekkei genkai holding children with the ball as a top secret bomb with amazing strength, strong enough to destroy the village.

Neji shrugged, translating to 'the normal.'

Sakura sighed, and then leant forward, whispering conspiringly, "I swear… the next time that I hear one of Naruto's tall tales…"

Neji gave a small smirk as he heard Sakura's plan to keep Naruto from ramen for a week, and then to make him endure the most torturing situations. Everyone got annoyed with Naruto's stories after a while, more or so when it included them in it.

"Hinata seems to really like him though… I mean I see the good side of Naruto that you have to love… but I really want to see him from her point of view, to see what she really sees in him that attracts her so…" Sakura mused, thinking it over.

Neji clenched his fists faintly, his body language screaming a mixture of awkward and protectiveness.

Sakura, noticing this, gave an apologetic half smile and spoke up. "Sorry Neji-san, I know how protective you are of Hinata, and how… rough Naruto seems at times, but really, he is a great friend."

"I know that." Neji was trying to be exceedingly patient for that very reason.

"How is Hinata-chan by the way?" Sakura asked, her smile becoming more sincere and kindly as she thought of the shy purple eyed girl. She, Hinata, Ino and Tenten had become strong friends during their genning years, and the smaller girl had always been the baby of the group because of her innocence and timidness.

"She is very well, thank you." Neji's face softened as he thought of his younger cousin. He was very protective and fond of the heir to the clan, and was never too far from her when she went out to the village market or out at night with the girls.

Sakura smiled, then patted the chair next to her, seeing that Neji was still standing. "Unless you really need to get going, I want to find out what the village gossip is while I have been out of the loop."

Neji gave a small smirk at the look that she was giving him, inviting and pouting at the same time to try and convince him to talk to her. He guessed that she did not have much to do while in bed, as she was bed bound, so he sat down in the chair next to Sakura, listening and answering her curious questions about the village and its occupants, and what had been happening between there friends, before the interrogation transformed into a intelligent conversation of genjutsu and how its effects work and such the like.

It was just as they were discussing how the Byakugan unravelled genjutsu, a blond flicked open the room door and walked in, her light eyes gleaming as she grinned and let out a high pitch squeal upon seeing Sakura.

"Forehead! You're awake, and looking better!!!"

Sakura let loose a laugh good naturedly, and then answered, her brows rising in surprise. "Wow, Ino-pig, you actually ventured out of the gossip mill to come and talk to me! I feel somewhat… special… like I am your… friend?" She gasped in mock shock, and then fake acted angrily. "All this time I was up here and you left me… nothing but a bunch of flowers… tut tut… where is the love?"

Ino, playing right back, shook her head sadly. "I guess you just aren't special enough Forehead. And you aren't as pretty as me, although I do notice that you have flowers… which means that there are people out there that love and adore you other than Lee… Shock horror!"

Sakura frowned, her eyebrows lowering above her eyes. "You are so not prettier than me Ino-pig. Anyway, of course there are people out there that love me… I hear stories about them."

Ino laughed. "Yeah, 'cause they all live in a non-existent place called, 'Your Imagination'."

"No Ino-pig. Because I got stuck in hospital and am only allowed so many visitors a day…" then Sakura scowled. "Hey, you're using up one of my visitor spaces. Damn. Well, it's too late, you're here now, so I may as well make the most of it."

Neji listened to the two girls arguing and mocking each other, and shook his head. No matter how good his eye sight was, nor how smart he was, he would never understand Ino and Sakura's friendship. He got up quietly, and made his way to the door, deciding that the conversation was obviously over, and not wanting to intrude on the best friends' catching up time.

"I hope you feel back to standards soon Sakura-san." Neji gave Sakura a small nod, as his way of saying goodbye. Sakura smiled and waved to him.

"We will finish our discussion another time." She promised her smile cheerful. "And thank you for the flowers, they are really beautiful and smell really nice, almost drowning out the hospital smell."

Neji nodded again. "I will stop in tomorrow, if you want me to."

"Of course!" Sakura brightened up even further at the thought of finishing talking with a person up to her level of knowledge. As good as Ino was for girl talk, the blond really did not know the difference between a subtle nervous system genjutsu, and an auditory and visual stimulating genjutsu.

"See you tomorrow." Neji closed the door behind him quietly, and walked down the hall. He could hear Ino squeal and say something, and then heard the noise of Sakura growling back at the blond, before the bickering and nattering continued.

Neji shook his head at how girls seemed to change all the time, like how different Sakura acted around Ino, compared to when she was talking to him alone.

'Strange creatures…'

***

He he... Neji... Gotta love him... and get ready for him to complacate the plot... (sp? i did not use that wonderful thing called 'spell check' when writing these little parts... cry.)

Lol… Neji is now involved in the story… geez, it took me long enough to get him in it… he's so protective... that will come in handy...

Just so that you know, my three favourite characters are Kakashi, Itachi and Neji (not necessarily in that order…)

OK!!! who can guess the plot now? cause i think i let the cat out of the bag, and made it blindingly obvious!!!

R an R people... Read and Review... or the chapters will come out even later than what they have been! MU HA HA!!! EVIL, I TELL YOU!!! (btw, if you haven't already guessed, i have reached the stage of tiredness, where i am now hypo. some people say that i suffer from insanity... but they are wrong!!!I ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT!!!)


	24. Chapter 24

Jealous Kakashi alert!

I repeat, Jealous Kakashi alert!

He he, longish chapter, just for you guys!

Well actually, its not very long, but I am putting up the next chappie too, instead!!! :)

***

Kakashi frowned as he sat on the ledge of Sakura's window. He had been about to enter, in his normal fashion, when he heard Sakura's twinkling laugh, and then a deeper male chuckle. He stopped, listening, and then noticed that it was the Hyuuga male that was in the same gennin year as Sakura.

Kakashi had meet the Hyuga in a couple of missions, but never personally got to know him. the pale eyed man had the same quiet, strength about him and confidence that reminded him of his old pupil, Sasuke.

His frown deepened as he heard another laugh from Sakura, and felt a bubble of anger rise from his chest. The emotion was foreign to him, as he had only felt it once or twice, and although he had heard much and read about it, he had never felt its effects so strongly. The feeling and tension grew, making a reddish haze blur his sight, until he had it under control, locking the simmering rage back into his chest. It remained though, skulking below the surface.

He was jealous.

Kakashi sighed internally, shaking his head at himself. He knew this would happen, but he still wasn't prepared for it. All that he would have to do was ignore the feeling, and keep it locked where it was, out of the way, so that it would not effect his actions and sway him from the path that he had chosen.

Easier said than done.

Kakashi braced himself, and then slipped in through the window, stepping onto the cold tile floor, close to the window as possible.

"Yo." He kept his voice bland, aloof, and uncaring, as if he did not really want to be there. He had his plan in place, and now it was all up to whether she believed him or not. He knew that he would have a hard time convincing her, as she was very stubborn when it came to something that she thought she had to do. From what he had heard, she wanted to talk to him. Yes, convincing her would be hard… but all depending on acting, telling half truths, and being able to believe what he was saying…

If only he could convince himself.

***

Sakura looked up when she heard the sound of pattering, like a cat had jumped into her room. She saw the light silver hair, and felt her heart lift. She had not seen Kakashi since she had seen him with Naruto, she opened her mouth about to say hi, when he bet her to it.

"Yo."

Sakura felt her mouth close, at the distance sound in his voice. He did not sound like the Kakashi she knew and loved. He sounded like some imitation of him, or like he was annoyed, bored and did not want to see her. She felt her heart drop, falling further down than what it had been before, and looked away from him, in an attempt to hide the pain.

"Hatake-senpai." Neji's voice was calm, and controlled, as if he had not noticed Sakura's little mental breakdown. He had seen the light disappear from her eyes when she heard Kakashi speak, and was observing the way that she was avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Kakashi-sensei." It hurt her to even say his name. She decided that she would just call him sensei instead. And not look into his beautiful eyes. And not look at him at all. And not think about him. or the plan that she had organised. Or the thoughts and daydreams that she had had about him. it would only hurt her more. She knew what she had to do.

Try to avoid unnecessary pain.

Kakashi did not seem fazed by the lack of warmth and welcome that he had been greeted with, in fact, he did not seem bothered by anything. He only looked out the window for a couple of seconds, before casting his gaze on a blank wall in front of him, still staying as close to the window as possible.

"Hokage-sama sent me to tell you that you will be released tomorrow, and as a temporary arrangement, you will be staying with a suitable shinobi to look after you."

Sakura's eyebrows creased, as she frowned at the idea of being looked after. "I am not an invalid." She insisted her emerald eyes dark and burning with her irritation.

The corner of Kakashi's eyes crinkled. "To us, you are." His voice was not joking, although it did hold some humour in it, it also had an undertone of seriousness.

Sakura's heart took another blow, as did her pride, and her inner. She took the comment to heart… literally. Her inner sat in silence, face shocked and hurt, stunned for a few seconds, before fuming silently her fists shaking. Outer Sakura had a hard time trying not to do the same, and managed to keep her voice even as she said back, slightly sarcastic and bitter.

"Of course."

Neji scowled, his pale eyes glaring at the older jounin. He could feel the anger and hurt radiating off his pink haired companion, and was angry by the way that he ex teacher was treating her. He was sure that it not normal, as Sakura had only talked about him with respect, and pride, saying how kind and strong he was when she needed to be helped out.

Obviously something had changed.

He felt Sakura shift beside him, and could feel her eyes burning a hole into the wall near them, where she was glaring fiercely. She could be quite intimidating when she wanted to be, and sometimes, not that he would ever admit it, it would unease the Hyuuga. He knew of her temper, as it was as much of a legend as her shishou's temper.

"Who is this 'suitable shinobi' that I will be staying with?" Sakura's tone was still bitter, and angry, but held something more than that as well.

Disappointment.

Kakashi sighed, rubbing the back of his head in an annoyed way, and then shrugged, as if he was having a mental argument with himself about something. He seemed to have decided and wrapped up his 'argument'.

"Me."

***

Sakura saw red, and then blue. Her emotions went haywire as she took in the information.

She went through anger, furious, hateful frustration, at the way Kakashi was acting and annoyance at having to be looked after like some stupid child that went out and hurt herself. She was pretty sure that was how Kakashi was seeing her, after the way he had been acting. And then, she felt the hurt, pain and overwhelming disappointment at herself, and at the way that she was being treated by the man that she loved. And disappointment in the way he was acting and taking it.

On the outside, she stayed calm and collected, as she nodded, her eyes the only visible sign of her conflicting emotions. She averted them from her old teacher, and then looked to Neji, her eyes unconsciously seeking comfort from something, or someone. There was only so much emotional and mental hurt that she could take.

"Is there no other option?"

Neji's voice was cold, and his tone accusing, almost critical, in the way that he… well… glared at the silver haired shinobi. His pale violet eyes had, once again taken in Sakura's unhappy position at the news, and tried to do something about it. He was very in tune to people's emotions, and could read them as easily as Kakashi read his books. His eyes broke down the smallest of movements, and figured out the aspects of human nature that explained to him how people were feeling.

The way that Sakura avoided looking at Kakashi, and her stiff, unhappy posture told him that she did not want him to be there, and that his presence was disturbing her. The way her eyes sought out his told him that she was begging him to stop the conversation, or change it, and her frequent glances towards the door and window showed her longing to escape the room.

Then there was Kakashi. Normally his posture and actions showed nothing of how he was feeling, as he used to always be in the same lazy, unfocused slouching position, even when he was alert and ready to be attacked. This new Kakashi, however, was stiff, and clearly uncomfortable. His eye was cold, and his tone of voice indifferent. He was hiding his emotion behind the voice and mask, but what the emotions were, Neji could only guess.

"No."

Sakura nodded, her head moving up and down stiffly, as she glared at the floor. In an attempt to lighten the conversation, she added, "I guess there is no arguing with Tsunade-shishou, is there?"

No one replied.

After a moment of awkward, cold silence, Kakashi made his abrupt departure out the window, gone before Neji had even seen it coming.

As soon as he was gone, Sakura made a small noise, and swore softly under her breath.

"Shit."

***

"Fuck. That went well." Kakashi mumbled sarcastically under his breath as he walked down the street, kicking a stone off the road, and into a nearby building. He glared at the ground, hands in pocket, and feeling strangely empty.

He had not expected that.

What he had been expecting was something more… Well, he had no idea of what he had been expecting, but what happened was defiantly not what he had wanted. The atmosphere was cold, and awkward, and the glares that Neji had been shooting him were highly deadly… if Kakashi had not been exposed to worse ones before… mostly for being late, but that was not the point.

The point was that there was something fishy between those two, and Kakashi was going to find out what it was. He did have two weeks of time with Sakura to find out about it… and he was going to use that time well.

He leapt up onto a roof of the bakery, and pulled out his book, fully ready to read. He would try not to dwell on the way that Sakura had kept looking at Neji, and the threatening glares the Hyuuga had given him in the hospital room.

That is, until he saw a certain pale eyed ANBU member walking on the streets below him.

***

Neji walked out of the hospital, his stride paced well, but fast enough for it to be called a brisk walk. He wanted to get back to the training grounds, as he had training with his ANBU team and was already on the brink of being late for it.

As he walked, he was sure that he felt a certain jounin watching him.

***

Neji left the training grounds, his Byakugan still activated from his training. It had been vigorous, and, as per normal for ANBU standards, too long for comfort. His body was sore from the hits that Neji had taken in order to let his other, more weak team mate train up his strength, and to practice the Hyuuga's own blocking stills, without using his blood limit.

There was another reason that he still had the veins around his eyes popping out.

The man had been very good at hiding himself, Neji had to admit, as none of his team mates had noticed the stealthy presence of the ex ANBU black op, but he had not been able to fool the Byakugan, as the blood limit allowed Neji to see all.

"I know that you are there."

A man dressed in black leapt lightly down from the trees, his silver hair glowing like a beacon in the moonlight. It was late, and no one else was around, as Neji had stayed back and trained later than his other team mates. The training ground was a dark green and black field, the shadows of the trees creating holes in the pool of moonlight that shone on green grass, making it a more blue shaded colour.

The silver haired man rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmm…"

"I knew that you were there, since the start of my training. I even felt your presence when you were watching me as I made my way home, after visiting Sakura-san at the hospital." Neji's eyes narrowed as he glared at the old shinobi, his body shifting into a battle position.

"Hn." The dark lone eye over Kakashi's mask darken further, as he recognised the strength of the younger ANBU member. He had a bone to pick with the Hyuuga, and he was sure that the younger man knew it, and had one to pick with him as well.

"So did you come here, just to watch me, or was there a reason to your failed attempt at stalking me?" Neji's tone was cold, and unfeeling, but still managed to hold the arrogance and taunting of a male looking for a fight.

Kakashi's hand reached up, as he pulled down his hidate around his neck. His red and black eye stared right back at Neji's pale ones, full of purpose, and uncontrolled anger.

"I am not here just to talk to you."

***

He he… I feel a fight coming up…

Who will win, and what will happen during the fight?

Find out next week!!!

Actually, it might be sooner, as I feel very inspired at the mo… feel lucky that I am!!!


	25. Chapter 25

Sorry, the fighting scene is… well… pathetic… or at least in my standards. I saw it in my mind… but found it hard to put it down in writing, for two reasons.

One, because in my mind, I can't really see what is happening. It is a night time fight, with very little light.

And two, because I would be repeating the same descriptions, over and over again.

Only a tad boring… -_-

Oh, well. Here it is, and I hope you guys like it!!!

***

"I did not come here just to talk."

The words hung in the air, as the atmosphere became cooler, and more deeply than before. If there had been a commentator there, to commentate on the fight, he could have used many words to describe the space between the two shinobi.

Tension that could be cut with a knife…

A furious mixture of burning hate, and freezing hostility emitting from the pair...

A dangerous and deadly simmering of death intent…

The two figures stood, silent and serious on the training ground, their silhouettes only lit by the moon. In a split second, they were gone, disappearing as they ran forward to attack each other. The clash of metal on metal sounded, and the fight began, their forms moving at breath neck speeds, fighting furiously and aggressively, all technique thrown out the window, and their most deadly moves being used, with the exception of Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan.

The silver blades flashed in the light, and both men flew back, gripping the ground, as their feet skidded, their bodies thrown by the impact. They stood, but where gone again, back at each other, their blades trying to find purchase in the others chest, or limb.

The first hit was from Neji, as his chakra filled fingers sunk into Kakashi's arm. The hit limb went numb, stopping the flow of chakra to it, and hitting a nerve point while it was at it, and causing the arm to fall uselessly to his side.

Kakashi's blade flew up, slicing through the air near Neji's unprotected side, cutting deep through his flesh, and drawing the first blood of the match. While Neji might have gotten the first hit, Kakashi drew blood, and that alone, sent both testosterone fuelled men into a type of fighting frenzy, as they went at each other again.

Lighting attacks lit up the training grounds, and flashes of blue chakra and darting fists. Fire erupted and smoke poofed from clones as hands blurred in hand signs, and kunai and shurikun spun across the grounds and into moving bodies.

They fought, until their blood flew into the air.

***

Sakura sat on a park bench, just outside the hospital. She stared up into the sky, breathing in the deep air, relaxing back into the cold stone bench. Occasionally a shiver would run through her from the cold chill of the air, but the rest of the time, she was peaceful. Or as peaceful as an irritable kunoichi would be when she had been waiting for over four hours. She had been told by one of the nurses, while being glared at enviously, that Kakashi-kun would be by to pick her up soon.

He was late.

As per normal.

But four hours was a long time, even for him.

'Nah, he made you guys wait that time for five and a half hours when you were a gennin…' Inner Sakura spoke up, glaring at the image of Kakashi in her head. She was not a happy camper.

But they were campers at that moment, because they had been released from the hospital, with no key to go home, as the Hokage had taken off her, and more than likely gotten Shizune to get a hold of the spare one outside her apartment. And considering that she had no key to open Kakashi's place, and had no idea where it even was, she could obviously not go there until Kakashi picked her up.

"This sucks."

***

Kakashi slumped into his apartment, falling onto his bed with a groan. Nobody had won the fight, as both of them had agreed without talking, that they would have to continue it just after they both got back from a mission, or something, to cover up their injuries when they fought again. The nurses and hospital staff would become suspicious if they turned up there with deep wounds, broken bones, and small bruises after having no missions.

He glared at the ceiling, before forcing himself up, and falling in the general direction of his chest of drawers. He need clothing to have a shower, to wash all of the blood and dirt and mud and grass off him. He was a mess, and he knew it. Pulling out his plain clothes, that he used as sleeping gear, he pushed himself off the wooden chest to go over to his bathroom.

His bright blood did not contrast as much with the aluminium greys and navy blues of his bathroom. He liked that. The white colours of most bathrooms reminded him of hospitals. Horrible places hospital buildings, more like torture buildings to Kakashi's experiences.

Removing his clothing was not as hard as stepping into the shower and turning it on, although Kakashi's muscle ached as he pulled his long, black sleeved top over his shoulders and head, and let it drop to the ground with a squelching noise. With it went the pants and under gear, pulled down to the floor by gravity, much like Kakashi's arms. They hung by his side, dangling lazily.

The Hyuuga boy had really done a number on him.

Or at the very least given him a good fight.

***

Neji grunted as he opened the door to his rooms of the Hyuuga complex. He had managed to avoid almost all of the other members of the clan, except for one older fourth cousin of his who had been on gate duty. He only looked at him, his arms crossed as he looked at the young Hyuuga prodigy with his eyebrows raised, before nodding him in the gates.

A roll of bandages sat on his neatly made bed, a small pile of bloodied weapons lying on the floor being the only messy and untidy item in the small wooden room. He hissed as he pulled his clothes of his shoulders, eternally grateful to the loose, baggy clothing of the Hyuuga clan as he tried prying it off his burnt shoulders. The sharingan welder had not gone easy on him, at all, and had used a variety of elemental attacks on him, including fire based attacks, some water and wind types, and one lighting based jutsu.

If it weren't for the fact that they were seriously fight against each other, Neji would be tempted to ask the Copy Ninja to train with him. But Neji was not stupid, in fact, he was extremely smart, as he had finally figured out why Kakashi had such a vendetta against him.

The Copy Nin was jealous of him.

For some reason or another, the silver haired shinobi felt challenged by the Hyuuga, and wanted to prove that he as the stronger of the two. Neji had found that much out from the fight, although he had no idea what set Kakashi off, and pushed him to fighting, but either way, Neji was not complaining, as he was angry with the Copy Nin's treatment of Sakura.

And maybe there were other reasons to Neji's grudge against Kakashi…

Even if Neji felt like he had had his ass handed to him by the more experienced shinobi, and had been chewed up and spat back out by some insanely strong monster. He knew that Kakashi was strong, but he had not known how strong, until he fought the silver haired jounin.

It was needless to say, that he was not looking forward to the experience again.

***

Sakura lay back on the bench, looking up at the stars.

It had been five hours now.

She was still waiting.

"Where the hell is he?!" She growled, sitting up suddenly, and regretting it as soon as she felt the pain in her chest at the sharp motion. The nurses and doctors had warned her about needing to take it easy. Sometimes her temper got the better of her medic side.

She glared down the deserted street from the hospital, her stomach grumbling maddeningly. She had not eaten since her little 'afternoon' tea like meal that she had before preparing to leave the hospital. She snarled at the ache in her belly, before standing up and glancing between the hospital and the road from it.

She tossed up the idea of going inside the hospital and eating in the cafeteria, before sitting back down on the bench, a small light of faith, keeping her hoping that Kakashi would come on get her soon. As it became apparent that he wasn't coming, she stood back up, and with one last glance back down the road, opened the hospital doors, and went inside.

He let her down.

So she gave up on waiting for him.

***

Kakashi washed the last of the grime from out from underneath his nails and from his body, and rubbed the soap over his body, wincing as his cuts stung and ached from the anti-bacterial soap that he was using. He let the water run over his sore body, before reluctantly turning off the shower and stepping out, dying himself down with a fluffy navy blue towel. The great thing about dark clothes and dark towels meant that the blood was harder to see, and there were no horrible stains in them.

He clumsily wrapped his wounds, before piling into bed, his body collapsing against the mattress in a satisfying thump sound. His head hit the pillow, and his eyes closed, shutting slowly as he blinked at the ceiling, promising himself to rewrap the bandages the next day. A stray thought entered his mind, as feeling of importance was releasing from his subconsciousness, before he fell asleep.

'Why do I feel like I am forgetting something…?'

***

Lol… silly Kakashi…

I can soooooo see a little comic thing of that last part… Sakura fuming, wondering where he is, while Kakashi is all warm, cuddly, and snuggled up in bed, all like… 'hmmmm… why do I feel like I have forgotten something…?'

Lol…

Sakura will not be happy… but I think you guys realised that… he he… and the catalyst is added to my story… Mu haha…


	26. Chapter 26

Kakashi forgot about Sakura, and then loses her.

Ha ha… lol. So much for 'elite ninja skills'.

If you hadn't already guessed, I am having fun, and messing about here, while also setting up for my dramatic ending, and opening for sequel.

Yes, I have planned another story, if I think that it makes sense to go that way, and if I can be bothered. If not, I will just write another new story.

Either or.

A.N. You find out Kakashi styles his hair in this chapter. :p

***

Sakura sat up in bed, yawning, as she stretched, and searched for her host. She looked around the small spare bedroom, and at the fresh sheets and cuddly pillow that she had slept in, and felt a wave of gratitude to her older friend.

After going in, and scabbing some food off the hospital cafeteria, (she was lucky that she knew the people running it, and that they were fine with her getting some extremely late dinner), she bumped into Genma and Anko, who took pity on her, and dragged her to Kurenai's house to use her spare bedroom.

Kurenai was the only one of the three who had a proper house, instead of an apartment, and who had a spare room for Sakura to stay in. she was also the one that Sakura would have preferred to stay with anyway. She felt more comfortable with the older, motherly woman, than with Anko or Genma.

Anko was… a little strange, and eccentric, and spoke very bluntly. Sakura knew that as much as she could get along with Anko, she knew that living with her, even for one night, would be too much strain on both of their self control. And Genma was… well, Genma, the flirtatious, womanizing shinobi with a reputation.

Kurenai was happy to let Sakura stay, and made up the spare room, and given Sakura some needed necessities, such as a toothbrush, and spare clothes. The red eyed woman felt guilty for the behaviour of her 'friend' Kakashi, and was more than welcoming to Sakura, and promised to hunt down Kakashi and give him crap and grief for his lateness… or forgetfulness.

Which ever it was.

Kakashi was meant to have gotten her gear from her apartment, and taken it to his own to set Sakura up for the next two weeks. But much like his timely appearance last night, Sakura found that the idea of him doing that was highly… improbable.

Sakura went to get out of bed, when she heard footstep up the stairs. The door creaked open, and a pretty face, surrounded with dark hair in curls and bright red eyes looked in on Sakura.

"You're awake early." Kurenai opened the door further, when she saw that Sakura was sitting up in bed, and blinking sleep from her eyes. She came in, and sat on the bed next to the pink haired kunoichi.

"Yeah, early mornings for hospital duty, and missions make my body clock wake me up around this time." Sakura smiled sheepishly, as she yawned again, and went to get up.

"No, you don't."

A slender hand pushed Sakura back into the warm, cosy bed, as Kurenai frowned disapprovingly at Sakura. "You need rest remember, and so you shall stay in bed and rest."

Sakura opened her mouth to complain, and then shut it again, agreeing reluctantly. "True, but I don't want to be a burden on you…"

Kurenai laughed, shaking her head in mirth. "You are no burden to me Sakura-chan. It's fine, really. I need to get going now though, I have some jobs to do for the Hokage, and to help out Shikamaru with his gennin team. If I see Kakashi around, then I will give him a severe telling off, so don't worry. Just rest."

Sakura lay back down in the bed, allowing herself to go back to the warmth, and then yawned for the third, and last time, her eyes shutting as she began falling back asleep. The warmth was tempting, and the bed was so comfy, and snugly, that she could not resist.

"If you say so… Thanks again…"

Kurenai smiled, as she watched the younger pink head fall back to the pillow, and before long, soft little snores came from her. She knew that Sakura was tired, especially after the drama of the night before. She had seen the look on her face when she sat in the cafeteria, looking lost.

When Kurenai found Kakashi… there would be hell to pay.

***

Kakashi got out of bed, around mid day with a groan. He felt sore to his bones, and was not very happy, as his chakra had taken a hit, as well as his ego. He would have thought that he would have done better against the Hyuuga boy…

Hitting the shower, Kakashi began his morning ritual. Getting up took around twenty minutes, including the yawning process, the stretching, and the time spent as he sat on the end of the bed, staring blankly into pace in a form of micro sleep. He then would have a twenty minute shower, maybe forty on days when he was really sore in the muscles, and when he had to style and wash his hair.

He had to get it in is usual position.

This then took another thirty minutes, as Kakashi did some sit ups, push ups, bridge holds, chin ups, before finally, using some hair gel, hung upside down from the bar in his room, letting his hair drip dry upside down. He hated hair dryers and other such things. Towels were okay to dry hair with, but it took too long, and too much effort.

Having breakfast was easy, as it only took a couple of minutes for Kakashi to woof down his brekkie and brush his teeth. He threw the dishes in the sink, and then made his bed, making sure that everything was tidy and perfect.

He left out the door a good two hours after waking up, and made his way to his favourite reading spot. The Fourth's ear was really, a great place to read. He could see everything that was happening down below him, and it was quiet enough for him to have some peace and alone time with his book.

"Kakashi-sensei!!!!"

Unless Uzumaki Naruto was about, that is.

Kakashi sighed, rubbing his hand through his head. He could not be bothered dealing with the blond right then. He was tired, sore, grumpy, and overall, impatient with the world that day.

"KAKA-SENSEI!!!!"

"Kami help me…" Kakashi murmured, as the blond came into sight, bounding up the stairs, being followed by a quiet, dark haired girl with pale eyes. Kakashi smiled at the sight, he could not help himself. It had taken long enough for the blond and the shy, timid girl, Hinata, to get together, or rather, long enough for the thickhead Naruto, to see that they girl had had a crush on him sine they were gennin.

"KAKA-SEN-!!!"

"I can hear you Naruto. You are shouting right into my ear." Kakashi said calmly, turning his lone eye to stare at the blond, before giving the quiet girl beside the blond a eye crinkle. "Hello Hinata-san."

"H-hello Kakashi-senpai." She still had a slight stammer, but not too much compared to what it had been.

"Kaka-sensei," the blond began, but didn't get far before Kakashi interrupted him.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Kakashi used his teacher voice, looking disapprovingly at Naruto.

"To not call you that, but who cares, Kaka-sensei, do you-"

Kakashi shook his head, sighing sadly, with mock reminiscing. "Where did the respect go… I remember when you used to look up to me with admiration and envy…"

Naruto snorted. "Yeah right. I never had respect for you, ever since you walking in that door, and fell for the oldest trick in the book." Hinata looked shocked, as Kakashi just sighed, and went back to reading his book.

"HEY! OI KAKA-SENSEI!!!"

"What Naruto?"

"Where is Sakura?"

"Shit!"

***

Kurenai walked through the streets, and glanced at the stalls and stores around her. She was not really interested in buying anything, but she was curious about what people were doing. She was also looking out for someone that she knew…

A loud, raucous voice drifted over the other sounds and to Kurenai's ears. She looked towards the sound, and to the smell of ramen, before walking over to Ichiraku's where she could see her old student and a fellow shinobi eating their noodles.

"I can't believe that Kaka-sensei could just forget about Sakura like that! I mean, who forgets about picking someone up from the hospital, when that someone had just almost died, only Hatake Kakashi can!!!"

"I d-don't know N-Naruto-kun… He c-could have been d-doing something last night t-that required all of h-his attention."

"But Hinata-chan, still…"

Kurenai smiled, and went over to her old student, and began talking with them. "Have you seen Kakashi by any chance? I know where Sakura-chan is, and I think he would like to know."

Naruto grinned, his teeth flashing, as he came up with an idea. "Why don't we just let him worry, and run all over the place looking for her first, before going and telling him where she is?"

Kurenai laughed.

"I like that idea."

***

Kakashi swore again as he pushed through the hospital doors, his head down in shame. He asked them if they knew where Sakura was, but the nurses and doctors that had been on when Sakura was waiting had gone home to sleep, and no one there knew where she was.

Worse, they all knew that he had not picked her up.

"Where the hell could she be?"

***

Meanwhile, Sakura slept peacefully, rolling over in her sleep to get more comfortable. Small, deep breaths came from her, as she sighed, and snuffled into the pillow more, falling deeper asleep.

***

Kakashi had gone to Sakura's apartment, and to Naruto's, and to Sai's. Hell, he had even gone to Sakura's best friend's, Ino, to try and find her. Ino had only laughed at him, and scolded him for forgetting her best friend, and asking what he had been doing that distracted him from her.

"Desperate time, call for desperate measures." Kakashi quoted solemnly, before pulling out a kunai and cutting his thumb, and summoning his nin dogs.

"Yo." Pakkun poofed into existence, and gave Kakashi a doggy grin, before wagging his tail once. "What's the job, Boss?"

Kakashi held out a piece of fabric that he had of Sakura's for the nin dog to smell. "I need you to try and follow this scent, and find Sakura."

"Sakura… Sakura… hmm…" the nin dog compensated, looking thoughtful. "She's the one that used to use the same shampoo as me, right? I remember her. She is the one that was your student, right? I like her. Why? What's happened to her?" the dog looked a bit worried for the girl that he knew, and liked.

"Umm…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Well… she was kinda injured and in hospital… and I was meant to pick her up so that she could stay with me, since she needs help… but I... um… forgot."

Pakkun looked at the silver haired jounin incredibly. "You're kidding right?"

"No."

The dog shook his head, and put a paw over his head in shame.

"Kami Kakashi. You are worse than a pup."

"Thanks Pakkun. Thanks a lot."

***

Hehe… Kakashi lost Sakura… lol. I find this fun, and entertaining.


	27. Chapter 27

Kakashi is in for a shock… and some major begging!

As soon as he gets over that blasted stuck up stubborness and selflessness of his!!! And ego I guess…

***

"This way."

The small pug dog leapt over the massive buildings, from roof to roof, nose in the air, as he tracked down the scent that he was looking for. He was followed by a fast moving blur of dark colour, as the man following behind the dog looked after the small brown animal anxiously.

"I am doomed…" Kakashi groaned, thinking of the pain and consequences that would come with his stupidity. "I haven't done anything this stupid since that time with Genma in the bar."

"Yeah, I heard about that story. Woke up the next morning with a hell of a headache and hangover, and sleeping in your own bed with some drag queen guy woman… person." The pug snorted, clearly amused by the images in his head. "We wouldn't let you forget it for at least six months after."

"Hn." Kakashi focused back on the roof in front of him. He recognised this route, as he used to walk it with his old best friend very often. "This place is familiar, are you sure that she is this way?"

"Yep." The pug dog gave Kakashi an affronted look, as if to say, 'Are you doubting my superior nose skills?'. The dog then turned back to where he was going, and then sniffed the air attentively, looking around him at the nearby housing.

"Just around here." He quipped, dropping down in front of a beautiful looking house. It was a creamy white colour, and built in a more eastern style than what the older houses were. It was deffinately a unique and beautiful house.

Not apartment, house.

Kakashi groaned, recognising the place immediately. He groaned internally, knowing that he would never hear the end of it from his old friends, as Kurenai definitely would have told them about his muck up and 'disregard' of his ex student. He was doomed.

"Thanks Pakkun." He dismissed the dog, with a mumbled thanks, before preparing himself to go into the house.

***

Sakura woke up to the sound of someone opening the door downstairs to the house. She closed her eyes for a second, before deciding to get up. it was probably getting close to midday, she guessed, and thought that it was about time for her to get up and help Kurenai out a bit.

She stretched, standing up, and pulling on the clothes that she had worn the night before. She had borrowed some of Kurenai's clothing to sleep in, and was glad for it. She had no other spare sets of clothing to get changed into…

"Kurenai? Are you home?"

Sakura knew that voice, oh, too well. She grimaced, before thinking of the credits of getting back into bed. Then she stood up straighter, her inner shouting in her head.

"Go down there and give him a piece of your mind! Teach him about forgetting you, CHA!"

Sakura was about top storm down the stairs, when she remembered what the older woman had taught her. She instead, gathered an air of disdain, and cold anger, and walked down the stairs calmly, coolly, in control.

"Kurenai is out."

***

Sakura's voice was cold, almost chilling as her hard emerald eyes glared down at him. She was standing a couple of stairs above him, looking down on him, in every aspect of the verb. Her pink hair was messed out around her, making her look like she had a halo of pink hair.

Kakashi felt his breath catch as he looked at her, dressed in civilian clothes that must have gotten changed into before she left the hospital. She was gorgeous…

But out of his league.

"I noticed." He commented dryly, hiding his emotions behind sarcasm and wit. It had worked before, but Sakura had gotten to know him so well, that she knew that most of it was a wall that he hid behind. He became worried that she would see through it, and catch him.

But all she did was shake her head, and turn away, walking back down the stairs slowly, and walking past him, without so much of a glance. She walked into the kitchen, and Kakashi followed, unknowingly, just letting his feet take him where they wanted to be.

Which was wherever Sakura was.

"So did you do that just to make me hate you?"

There it was again. That cold, indifferent voice. Kakashi did not like the way her voice froze over, as if just talking to him made her want to spit at him. Kakashi had heard her use that voice before, but never towards himself.

The first time her heard it was when she was talking to an ex boyfriend of hers, who had broken up with her in the most horrible, heart wrenching way. Kakashi had heard it because she had come to his house seeking comfort, just to find that the young man lived nearby. He had tried to talk to her, but she had turned him away in anger.

Now the tone was being used against him.

It hurt.

"Do what." His tone was flat, in his despair. He hated her using that voice. It was so… unlike her normal angry voice. Like hell had frozen over.

"Forget me. Disregard the fact that I was relying on you last night to pick me up, since I had had the keys to my apartment taken away from me by the Hokage, in an attempt to make sure that I did not try to go home alone. Ignore the fact that I had to wait for you to come and pick me up, no matter what the time was."

She had turned away from him, but he could imagine the hurt on her face. The way she would bite her lip, to stop it from trembling slightly, and the way she would look at the ground, her bright green eyes dull, and wet with unshorn tears. If it was anything like the barely hidden pain in her voice, he would be ready to fall to the ground, and beg for her forgiveness in a second.

But he wouldn't, because he had to be strong, for her sake.

'That makes no sense…' a small part of his mind thought. Kakashi could feel the will behind his decision to push her away from him fading. He had forgotten why it was so important for him to keep her away from him.

"I'm sorry."

His apology might mean nothing to her, but from him, it held all the sorrow and regret that he had in him. he did not want to hurt her, but he had to. Even if he was struggling to remember why. Even if all he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and hold her, to try and stop the pain. Even if he was breaking his own heart, and hers, to stop her from feeling even more pain.

"No, you're not."

Her words cut him, deeper than any blade.

She continued on though, despite his pain.

"No, you have no idea what you lost." Her voice became stronger, louder, as her frustration came through, bringing with it a peek at the Sakura he knew. Although this Sakura was in a state that he never should have let her get to.

"You have no idea of how it felt, to be waiting there for hours, keeping faith that your friend, the one friend that you could turn to when you needed help, would be coming to help you. You have no idea of the frustration and anger that I felt, waiting, feeling like a fool for even believing in you. I thought…" Her voice cracked, and rose in pitch.

"I thought that I would mean more to you than that."

***

Sakura took a breath, before turning around and opening the door to walk out. She stood on the door for a split second, debating on whether to wait for Kurenai, to tell her what happened, and thank her for her courtesy, before following her instincts to flee.

She blinked the tears from her eyes, and then moved her hands in a flurry of hand signs. She knew that while she could not run fast enough to escape Kakashi, she could use a transport jutsu to get to her apartment. Even if it took a lot of her chakra, chakra that she was trying to save up, and replenish.

It was worth it to get away from him.

***

She disappeared in a swirl of pink blossoms, leaving Kakashi standing, shocked, in Kurenai's house.

He looked at the small pile of soft, fragile blossoms, and picked up a hand full of them, crushing them in his grip. He knew he had gone too far. The pain in her voice showed that she was not only talking about last night, but of all the time before that, the times that he had acted so kindly towards her, and then the strong contrasting between those memories, and the other, more recent times that he had abandoned her.

Kakashi walked out of the house, shutting and locking the door behind him, and placing the spare key back under the doormat where Kurenai had put it. He walked towards the middle of Konoha, and towards the normal shinobi bar. His walk was slow, and pained, and his slouch even more visible than normal.

"Oi, retard."

A caramel haired shinobi shouted at him from down the street, moving along the crowd towards the dejected silver haired shinobi.

"What."

"Geez, a voice fine enough to match the look, eh, Kakashi." Genma gave a smirk, looking at his friend with glee. He was not happy that his friend was upset, only happy that he had actually found the socially demented man in time to catch a drink with him and find out what the matter was.

"Hn."

"Come on, lets have a drink, and then you can tell me what got in such a sorry, slumped up state, and who I need to hunt down and kill." Genma joked, knowing that the usual Kakashi would only snort, and laugh at the thought of the weapons expert being able to take someone down, whom the sharingan master could not.

But this Kakashi only shrugged, and followed Genma like a dejected puppydog.

***

Sakura sat down on her childhood tree, and cried, sobbing out the pain of rejection while rocking on the branch she was sitting on. She used to come to this tree when she was feeling lonely when she was younger. The last time she had come to the old 'weeping willow' as she called it, was when she found out the her parents had been killed when they got caught in the crossfire of a small scale shinobi battle near the border.

They had been civilians, not ninja, only travelling to the Land of Tea on a well deserved holiday. They had had no idea that sound shinobi had been lurking around, waiting for a pair of shinobi to be travelling to the Land of Tea, dressed in civilian clothes.

Kakashi had been away then too, as had Naruto. She had only been fourteen at the time, and it was during the time Naruto had been travelling with Jiraiya, training. Tsunade had been the one to comfort her, and Shizune, both woman taking a more active, motherly role in her life, and helping her support herself. They had given her money, and she had gotten a good job as Tsunade's apprentice before that anyway, so she was able to stay in her parents house, and buy food and other living materials.

Funny though, how, that in the time that Sakura had been away from this tree, it had been Kakashi that she had turned to when she needed comfort, or reassurance, not this old tired tree.

If only she could still turn to him now.

***

"So…" Genma took a sip of his drink, watching as Kakashi gulped down his. "What is it that has gotten you in such a mess?"

"Sakura."

Kakashi was honest. He did not see the point of hiding anything from the senbon sucking shinobi, as he was sure that it would come back to bite him in the butt, like all things seemed to do to him. He stared down into the clear depths of his drink, before lifting it to his lips, ready to gulp it down.

"Ah, I see."

Surprise stopped Kakashi from chugging down the drink, as he looked to Genma for an explanation. "You do?"

"Yeah, she finally got around to telling you that she loves you."

***

He he…

Actually, it wasn't Kakashi getting the bite in the bum from what he said, or did not say! It was Sakura!!!

I'm still not completely sure where this story is going… I was thinking of another fanfic carrying on from this one, when I got to the stage I wanted to… but now I am not sure, as this chapter happens to clash with that idea…

Oh well.

Tell me what you guys want! A nice, neat ending to this story, ensuring that I have the motivation to tie lose ends, or another 'sequel' that might have a chance of abandonment… (I'm not saying that I will definitely abandon it, I'm just saying that the longer that it takes, the more chance there is…)

R and R!!! and do it soon, as I really want to carry on writing this ASAP and I need your opinions first!!!


	28. Chapter 28

I finally finished this chapter. It took me a while, as I was not sure about what to do with it.

But thanks to some constructive critique from Pance, I am back on track, and have got an especially long chapter for you guys.

Once again, thank you Pance, for your words, I have finally explained… 'his' part in this. Hope you guys like this chappie, and then next, and maybe last, chapter will be out soon.

Yes, no sequel. It would be too much, and I am slowly losing interest in this story, so I need to get on with it, finish it off well and start a new one soon!

***

Kakashi chocked on his drink, or more specifically, on air. "What!"

His heart stopped beating.

Genma laughed at his friend's face. "I guess she hadn't told you then."

"She told you?!"

"Yeah, she accidentally spat it out about… I don't know how long ago… a couple of months, maybe longer…? She was going to tell you, but then you got called for that mission, and she never got the chance, I don't think."

Kakashi felt his heart start to beat again, it's speed faster than it had ever been. He knew that under his mask, he was smiling happily, his eyes crinkled at the corners, and his eyes bright with glee. He had not been sure, and had always only hoped…

But he had spurred her away.

"Fuck, not again." His head slammed on the table as his mind processed what he had done, again. He seemed to have really bad luck with showing his emotions, and with loving other people. This was why he had hesitated in the first place about Sakura, even though she had had to be the one most treasured thing in his life, and even if he had not known it completely then.

"Again?" Genma asked, shaking his head. "No wonder she went to Kurenai and Anko for help with trying to get to know you. She went to them pretty often, for some reason, and is probably still with them now, talking about it… hey! Where are you going?"

Kakashi dropped his drink, out the door even before his shinobi friend had noticed that he was gone. He had to talk to Sakura before she did anything rash, or before she hated him. From her earlier reaction to him, he guessed that she was well on the way to strongly disliking him, if not hating him. he had caused her a lot of pain, and after the turnout of her past feelings of love, she would be in a bad mood.

And when Sakura was in a bad mood, it was like the sky was falling for him.

***

Sakura gritted her teeth, growling under her breath, glaring at the papers before her. Those small, tightly wrote neat calligraphy had her worrying, rereading them, and nervously pacing while reading them, over and over again. She never knew how much trouble a couple of pages of legal work would cause her. She paced to the end of her office, and then back to the door, before spinning on her heel, and briskly marching back to the wall, before repeating.

"You don't have to sign them, you know?"

Anko leant up against the edge of the wall, her short, lean body and posture making her look like she was only there for the entertainment, as she looked faintly amused by Sakura's dilemma. Kurenai sat in the spare chair that Sakura had in her office, watching Sakura pace as well. She spoke up then, agreeing with her unlikely friend.

"Anko-san is right." Kurenai kept her voice gentle, and soothing. She had gone home, and upon seeing no Sakura there, went out to try and find her to talk to the girl about Kakashi. She had found Sakura curled up in a tree at the training grounds, looking miserable and depressed and her face marked with drying trails of water and red eyes from crying.

After talking and hugging the girl, Kurenai had managed to convince Sakura that there was hope for her in her shinobi career. Sakura had been positive that her career as a shinobi would fail, as she would find it hard to work with Kakashi in Team Kakashi after what had happened. Hell, she thought that living in the village and having the same career as him was going to be a challenge, let alone working with him. When Kurenai suggested full time ANBU missions, Sakura had declined, on the belief that she would only become more stressed by the full time missions, and knowing Naruto, by the continuing harassment for them to be on the same ANBU team again, like Team Seven.

The option that Anko came up with: a move, or mission in an ally village.

Sakura, knowing that it was the best decision, and that the Kazekage had requested some assistance with his medical program, had wrote down a formal request to the Hokage top ask if she could go the Suna, for a long term mission in boosting and building up Suna's medical system. She had used excuse's such as, 'I feel like this will advance my skills and leadership,' and 'this opportunity will provide me with the information and knowledge to improve our own system, while also giving me a chance to prove myself and strengthen the ties between the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Leaf Village.'

She knew that if she pushed enough, Tsunade would grant her it, as a favour to her apprentice, and also to give Sakura a chance to experience things.

But she was not sure if it was what she wanted.

Cue her friends' argument.

"You could always stay here, and kick Hatake's ass until he realises that you are… well… you." Anko trailed off, while trying to use a positive descriptive word for Sakura. She then coughed, trying not to laugh at Sakura and Kurenai's disapproving expressions.

"Thanks a lot Anko-san. You really are too kind." Sakura scowled, not convinced in the slightest.

"You could stay here. Then you would be close to your friends." Kurenai's words hit a soft spot in Sakura's argument.

"Yeah, think of that blond idiot pal of yours, and those other friends of yours. How you got even more than one, I'll never know."

"Once again, thanks Anko, you really know me that well."

"Just stay." Anko was firm. "If you think that you will be happier here. But if that idiot Hatake bothers you too much, then go. Whatever works for you."

Kurenai smiled in agreement, and Sakura gave them a grateful grin. "Thank you, you guys… I might go home to my apartment now, I can grab the keys off Shizune. She'll take pity on me." Sakura planned, and then glanced out the window, to see that it was already just before sunset. The day had been long and tiring, but had gone fast now that it was over.

"Sure thing." Anko gave a mocking salute, and then grinned, planning in her head, and looking mischievous. "I think that I might visit the bar tonight… have a bit of fun… see what fresh meat is on the market…"

Sakura coughed, looking faintly pale at Anko's 'plan' for the night, and the terms that she used for the male gender.

Kurenai smiled, laughing. "I think I might join you on that. Genma and others will already be there, and hopefully Shizune might come along. I know that Ino will drag Shikamaru out there, and probably Kiba and some other younger crowd out too."

"Aww… so cute…" Anko said sarcastically, "Kurenai is going to a bar to keep an eye out on her former students…"

Kurenai just shook her head, smiling, and said goodbye to Sakura as Anko pushed off the wall and walked out of Sakura's office, with a backwards hand wave goodbye to Sakura. Kurenai paused at the door, and then turned back to have a quick word with the pink haired woman.

"Kakashi has always had problems with showing affection and love… he thinks that he is cursed, because that everyone that got close to him seems to get hurt, and dies." Kurenai explained quickly, under her breath to the younger woman. She knew that Kakashi would not be happy with her for telling someone the private information, but it was an emergency.

"So… when we were gennin, the reason that he never told us anything about himself was because he did not want us to get close to him." Sakura deduced, guessing at what Kurenai was getting at.

"Yes." Kurenai smiled. "His whole act of ignoring you and acting cold is probably just that. An act. To try and protect you from his 'curse'."

Sakura looked thoughtful, before speaking up. "Then why does he not take a chance. What is the point of pushing those close to him away, and then losing them. It does not make sense."

Kurenai gave a sad, understanding smile. "You were born in a different time remember Sakura-chan. We grew up during a time of war. We have seen horrible things, and done horrible things. We have lost so many people, Kakashi especially. It's just his way of coping with the pain, and building up a wall to protect himself from it. In a way, he is showing that he cares for you, by trying to stop you from being hurt." Her tone turned positive, and encouraging. "Think of it in that way."

Sakura nodded, and then smiled taking in what the older woman had said… but the smile faded as Kurenai had left. As much as she wanted to understand, and be able to hold on for Kakashi, she knew that she could not deal with another Sasuke case. It would hurt her too much. She did have some sense of self preservation. So she was back to where she started.

She still had no idea of what to do.

And she felt like she was running out of time to decide.

Sakura got up from her chair, and opened the door again, for her to walk out. She shut it behind her, and locked it, looking in to check that she had everything that she wanted from the desk. A few papers were lying on it, but nothing that she needed to grab. Dawdling down the hall, and procrastinating as much as possible, Sakura grimaced as she looked into Shizune's office, to see that there was a blond woman, with high heel shoes on, standing inside and bending over to talk to Shizune.

She opened the door slowly, and stood at the frame, waiting for the Hokage and her assistant to stop talking. Shizune looked up and smiled, waving for Sakura to come in further.

"Hey Sakura-chan. I didn't know that you are back to work?!"

"I'm not…" Sakura gave a small nervous smile, it fading as soon as it appeared on her face. "Um…"

"What can I do for you? Tsunade and I are just talking, but it is nothing too important, and we can get back to it in a sec, if you want?" Shizune's voice was warm, and had not a speck of annoyance in it at all.

Sakura smiled back, much more successfully than what she had been before. "That would be good. It will only take a sec."

Tsunade coughed, and then gave Sakura a strong, firm, pointed look. "Hurry it up, Sakura. You said that it would take a second, so go."

"I need the key to my apartment."

Tsunade scowled, her eyes firm and unmovable, while Shizune flinched, and gave the pink haired woman a pitiful, apologetic look.

"No."

Sakura nodded patiently, already seeing this answer when she saw Tsunade in the office with Shizune. "I need to get my stuff."

"No. Kakashi should have gotten it." Tsunade was fixed in her thoughts.

"But Lady Tsunade-" Shizune tried…

"No."

"You know Kakashi." Shizune pleaded, knowing the woman's dislike of Kakashi's attitude.

"Hm."

"He wouldn't have actually gotten it, knowing him. He would have been reading that book somewhere instead."

"Hmmm…"

"I bet that he was late in picking Sakura up anyway."

"He never turned up to be precise." Sakura corrected, her tone fuming and offended, still, by the slight.

"Get the key, and go."

Sakura smiled at the shocked Shizune, and the enraged Hokage, feeling a slight twinge of pity for the silver haired shinobi, before grinning, and thanking them, grabbing the key, and leaving. As unhappy as she was, she still found the energy to laugh at the thought of the Copy Nin's face when he found out.

"Kakashi is in sooo much trouble when he sees them…"

***

Walking down the road, not looking where she was going at all, a young pink haired woman strode calmly back to her apartment, her keys in hand, jingling in a light pattern with her steps. She held a piece of paper in her hand, that she was reading, for the sixty third time.

She still hadn't made up her mind.

'You're procrastinating…' Sakura's inner thought smugly, full against the idea of taking the mission to go away.

'So?'

'You want to stay.'

'No I don't.'

'Yes you do.'

'No I don't.'

Her inner laughed, shaking her head at her outer's stupidity. 'I am you. And trust me, I know that you want to stay.'

'I don't know…'

Sakura scrunched up the piece of paper in her hand, walking with only one thought in mind.

"How did I end up in such a position?"

She spoke out loud, glaring ahead at the trees, as she walked by the ninja academy to her apartment. She did not know how she managed to always fall for the wrong guys. It wasn't like she wanted to get hurt by them, every single time. She wasn't a masochist.

"You always fall for the wrong guy for you."

Sakura blinked, and her back straightened like a poker, as she looked to her side, and at the tall, dark haired man beside her. She shook her head at him, glaring at him.

"Not true. You were fine… the very best guy that a girl could date. You were courteous, kind, intelligent, gave me chocolates, kissed very well…"

He looked at her, his eyes sad, and his mouth turned up into a sad smile. "Thank you Sakura… but we know that we never would have worked out. We are better as good friends, and we both know that."

Sakura gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah, I was too strong minded, and stubborn for your clan."

Pale eyes regarded her, as Neji smirked at her, seeing what she wanted to say, but couldn't.

"No, trust me. You are an amazing kunoichi, and they saw that. But my uncle has seen you around with Ino-san, and Hinata, and he knows that you would have never fit in with what the clan would have wanted. You would hate to be constrained by restrictions, and have to leave behind everything that you worked for. You knew that, and I did too. We both could see that, and we both agreed to end our relationship, on a good note."

Sakura sighed. "You are right. You always are."

"Hn."

"I just wish…"

The Hyuuga smiled softly, looking out at the warm colours of the sunset, as the oranges and yellows and pinks began fading into purples and violets and deep blues. He looked like something out of a dream, or some perfect panting. Angel like, and perfect.

"I do too. But…"

"There is always a 'but' in our relationship."

"Exactly."

Sakura gave him a quick hug, and thanked him softly for his help in sorting out her mind. She healed the bruises on his face carefully, not asking where he had gotten them. It was his business, and after he had just comforted her, she did not want to be rude and nosy into his life and missions. He would tell her, in time, if he wanted her to know. He always did.

As Sakura walked away from him, her heart lighten from the talk, Neji watched, his pale eyes seeing through her appearance, and seeing how much she wanted a relationship to work out.

"He will come."

Neji thought about the fight that they had over her 'happiness', and how he had seen Kakashi flee from the bar, going straight to Sakura's apartment to find her. And how long the silver haired shinobi, who always kept others waiting and never waited for anyone, had been there sitting at her window.

"He already has committed, even if he knows it, or not."

***

Ha ha…

Now, can you guess the next chapter?

R and R…


	29. Chapter 29

Just so you know, the italic writing is what is written in Sakura's letter to Kakashi.

If you guys want to know what is written in the letter, the whole thing, will be in the very last chapter that I put out, the alternate ending of chapter nineteen, which is the one where Sakura should have died.

***

"She loves you…"

Funny how three little words send people to the extremes, making them do anything for a person to hear those three words, or sending people mad when they hear those words.

_I love you._

Her eyes, so emotional, like an open book, showing you what she can't say, and what she wants to show, but can't act on, what she is afraid of…

Kakashi took a deep breath, smelling her scent, a mixture of smells. Vanilla… apricot… some fruity flowery smell… and an underlying smell of spring and home, a smell that he could never describe well enough. Only that it was comforting and soothing, as it was exciting and anticipating.

Her room was small, but very tidy, homely in the way that it held little notes on medical justu's and some plans and a random mystery book lying on her desk in the corner. There were piles of sheets of paper on her desk, a couple of random letters or so floating around somewhere on it's dark surface too.

It's where he had found the letter.

It was addressed to him, so he had opened it. In hindsight, he should not have done so. It was technically hers, and she had every right to scold, and shout, and rage at him for opening it. It held her deepest thoughts and fears, a secret that she did not feel secure enough to tell.

But what he had found had made all of that so insignificant.

***

Sakura opened her apartment door, sighing as she dropped the keys into the bowl near the door. She loved her apartment. It was made up of a little kitchenette thingy, a lounge, a bathroom, complete with a bath and shower, and her bedroom. Small, but all that she needed.

After all, she wasn't home often enough anyway.

She yawned, stretching as she made her way to her bedroom, and to the bathroom. Pausing at the door to her bedroom, she saw that her sleeping gear was already in the bathroom, hung up ready to go.

Blinking in shock, she walked closer to look at it. She had not been home that day, so why was her gear already out… who had…?

***

Kakashi held his breath as she paused at the door, and looked into the bathroom. He had not been in there, but obviously there was something wrong, if she had stopped so suddenly to inspect something.

He had heard her come in the door, and had been stealing himself to confront her, and talk to her about their 'relationship' and his mistakes. He had heard her drop the keys into a bowl or something downstairs, and trudge down the hall. She had been moving pretty slowly, and had sighed a few times, like she was tired, and wanted nothing more than to sit down and relax.

He had been careful. He did not want to get caught, randomly standing in her room, after looking through her possessions. As he had learnt, it was all about timing…

If he was caught…

Well, it definitely would not be the best timing.

***

Sakura let out a shaky laugh.

She had been worried there for a moment, but then she had remembered what time she had been called out to go on her last mission. There was no ANBU agent sent to wake her up, instead it had been prearranged. She was meant to have a different mission anyway. It had been way too early for her, and so she had had a quick cold shower when her alarm went off, signalling for her too get up.

She had folded up her pyjama's when she had gotten out of them, and had set them on the bench for later. She could remember it now.

She smiled. It was one less thing for her to do.

***

Kakashi heard the door shut, and then heard water running. She was having a shower.

Good, it gave him more time to think over what he was going to say.

_I love you._

_I know this from the very bottom of my heart, the very depths of my soul, and the very core of my essence. I mean those three little words with all of my being, and wish that I could have told you face to face, and seen your reaction._

The words that she had written were strong, and pulled straight from the heart. He could not believe that she had written it to him… it did not make sense for her to love him. he was fourteen years older than her, and he was only a jaded, scarred, old shinobi, past the prime of his youth. Unlike the rest of her comrades.

Like the Hyuuga boy.

It didn't make sense for her to love him, and not the pale eyed young man that she was so close to. He looked out for her, and was very protective of her, and she looked to him for comfort and guidance. So why did she choose him?

He didn't understand.

It was incomprehensible.

But a part of him didn't care. It didn't need to understand. It didn't need a rational answer, it just went with it, and knew that sometimes things just happened.

…_It was then that I realised, I might not have gone where I was intending to go, but I think I have ended up where I was meant to be…_

So true… If only he could say that to her.

***

Sakura got out of the shower, her hair smelling like her shampoo, as she yawned. She didn't know how many times she had yawned that night. It was some ridiculous number, she knew that, and she knew that it was probably caused by the stress and frustration that she had been feeling.

She was no closer to a decision than she was before.

She thought it through, from every possible angle, and was still torn. There were pro's and con's to it, weighing it up, they were pretty even. It all depended on her.

She looked at the little piece of paper, and sighed, deciding that she would sleep on it. She had time to think, so if anything happened to make her change her mind about it, and decide, then she would be able to. Not rushing into something was the best idea, because once she said that she would go, she would have to go. It was her shinobi word.

She stepped out of the bathroom, steam pouring out from the room with her, flowing into the other room, across the hall. Her bedroom.

She rubbed her head tiredly, and walked into the room…

Only to see one of the subjects of her thoughts, sitting on her bed, and looking at her with an intense expression on his face. She closed her eyes.

'I can't handle this right now…' Was her thought.

***

Kakashi watched Sakura, and saw her face show so much emotion. They flitted across her face, before she closed her eyes, and then opened them, looking tired and frustrated. He could see that she was hurt, and she did not want him to be there. The way that she scrunched up her fists, crushing the piece of paper in her hand was enough proof of her hostility.

"What do you want."

She said it like a statement, like she did not care what he wanted, or why he was there, she just wanted him out and gone. She was bitter, and angry, her tone hostile and cold, her face closed as a door, no longer an open window to her soul. Her stiff, uncomfortable posture displayed her displeasure of him being there.

She thought that she was safe from him, and then he turned up, breaking down her personal walls.

He felt like he was the villain, and she was the sufferer.

And he thought he was right.

"I…"

"…"

"…"

"What?!" She became impatient of the pause, and then walked by him, like she did at Kurenai's.

But this time he stopped her, his hand shooting out to catch her wrist, to trap her from escape. He had to talk to her; she would not walk away from him. Not then. Not ever.

"…" He wordlessly handed her the letter written to him.

She gasped, her face losing colour, and her eyes filling with tears.

"You have no… no… no right… to… to… to read this…" her voice was weak, barely keeping the tears out of it, not stopping the ache and cracking of her voice as she tried to summon the right words to use.

"I know."

His voice was calm, stable, unrepentant. He did not regret reading it. It was too important for him not to read.

"W-why then?"

"I needed to know if you felt the same as what Genma said you did. What I thought that you did."

"And…" She was afraid. Just like she said.

He stepped forward, and kissed her tenderly, his lips softly caressing hers, his hands cradling her cheek and neck, stroking the soft, soft skin there, and watching her eyes widen in shock, before filling with wonder and joy, as her lips moved back, softly as a butterfly, responding shyly to his kiss, as if unsure about whether he was messing around with her or not.

He pulled back, letting her take a breath.

He did not want to over crowd her with information.

But then she leant to meet him, following his movement back, with her body, before her lips came back to his, passionately showing him that she was no longer afraid, and that her trust in him was back, and that she would follow him the ends of the earth.

If he wanted her.

He pulled back, tearing his lips from her, and smoothed his thumb over her cheek, her forehead, her eyelids and her lips, pausing at them, taking in her blush, her kiss swollen lips, they way she was panting for breath, and the spark in her eyes that he missed so much. He lovingly smoothed back a lock of her beautiful pink hair, and smiled, his mask around his neck.

She was looking at him, shocked beyond belief, as she took in his straight nose, full lips, white teeth, perfect skin, sharp jaw line, and then, lastly, lingering on his single dimple on his left cheek. Her eyes rose back to his eyes, and then she smiled back, all pure happiness, as she took his face in her hands.

He looked at her, his eyes trying to tell her how he felt, how he thought that he could not be with her, and how he thought that she deserved some else, someone who was not as damaged as what he was, but he also showed how much he had wanted to be with her, and love her, and how some selfish part of him would never let her go, and would always fight for her, no matter what the cost.

***

She could see the love in his eyes, and the quiet intensity that he felt for her. She could see how he had been tearing himself apart when he was trying to keep away from her, and act like he didn't care. Because he did care. He cared so much for her, that he would sacrifice his own happiness to stop her from being hurt.

'Stupid man…' her inner thought, dreamily thinking of him, and how hot he looked when he was looking at her, and how silly he was to think that by hurting himself, he wasn't hurting her. She would never understand the way that his mind worked. He was even worse than a woman at overanalysing things.

She smiled affectionately, and looked him in the eyes. His beautiful stormy eyes. And then she leant her forehead against his and breathed out a sigh of relief and happiness.

"Idiot…" she murmured, her breath fanning over his face. She saw his face light up, as he realised what she was saying by saying that. He was her idiot. They sat there, just drinking in the looks on each others faces, as they basked in the compassion of the moment.

"I love you." His words broke the silence.

His tone was soft, soothing, and fond, full of devotion. A tone that he had only used once or twice along time ago, when he was only little and speaking to his mother. His eyes were full of passion and love, as he looked into her bright green eyes and kissed her again, pulling her as close to him as possible. He did not want her to go, he would not let her go, and he would protect her with his life, and more, if he could.

He did not know when he began to fall in love with her…

_She did not know when she began to fall in love with him…_

It might have been when he saw her as a beautiful, unique, compassionate woman, with the strength to crush boulders, and the determination and will to carry on living, even when there seemed no hope.

_It might have been when she saw that softer side of him, that side that hid a intense, caring man who could be sensitive and know exactly when to smile under his mask at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners to let her know it would be alright. _

It could have been when he fell in love with her, all over again as he held her close to her in bed, and loved her, and when he saw her walk down towards him, her face aglow with joy, his ring on her hand, and her eyes looking only for him.

_It could have been when she fell in love with him, and with the man that he had become, as he waited for her, and her alone, looking at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world, and as he held her hand, and vowed to love her till death do they part._

All that he knew…

_All that she knew…_

Was that he would do anything to keep her near him, waiting for him when he got home from a hard mission…

_Was that she would do anything for him, and would trust him with her life, and her soul, and so much more, if she could give it to him…_

As long as she said…

_As long as he told her…_

I love you.

~~*~~

It's funny how three little words send people to the extremes, making them do anything for a person to hear those three words, or sending people mad when they hear those words.

It's funny what people will do for love.

***

Ta da!!! Finished!!! Sappy ending, I know… but that is how I want to end it! There will be no sequel thing, and no epilogue. Unless you count the alternate ending.

The next chapter will be the alternate ending for chapter nineteen!!! Then that's it.


	30. Chapter 30

Here is the alternate ending... anyone who wants to read it can read it, but WARNING!!! CONTAINS SAD PARTS AND DEATH!!! IF YOU ARE ADVERSE TO WRITING WITH DEATH OF MAIN CHARACTERS, OR SAD ENDINGS, DO NOT READ!

Lol, here it is, hope you guys that read it like it and cry... although if I didn't cry, the chance of you crying is only morderate... if i had cried though, it would be another matter...

***

Kakashi walked through the gates, nodding his head at the guards on duty so late at night. He had helped the ANBU members get back, and they had disappeared into the night with the bodies of their dead ones.

Kakashi felt his heart hurting, for the ANBU member that he had helped, Bear.

His partner had died, not making it through long enough to heal herself. Kakashi had made it back to the clearing where they had fought, in time to see the man bent over her, chakra pouring from his hands and into her. He had been begging her, telling her to take it, and heal herself, but she had shaken her head, and told him that her injuries were too great, it would take the Hokage to heal them.

***

"I… would… not… be able… to heal… these… by… myself…" She whispered, her bloodied lips moving, her voice quiet and breathless. She sounded, resigned, like she had seen it coming, and her mask turned towards Kakashi.

She took a breath, her chest rising up, free of the blade that had been penetrating it. She smiled, her lips curving up in a gentle smile. She looked back at Bear, still smiling.

"Thank you…" she whispered, looking at the sky. She then sighed, a deep sigh, and spoke quietly, not singing, but speaking like they were words to a song.

_"When you're close to tears remember_

_Some day, it'll all be over._

_One day we are going to get so high._

_Although it's darker than December,_

_What's ahead is a different colour…"_

She hummed, taking her mind off the pain, as Bear stood up, leaving her for a second, to go over to the trees, looking up at the sky.

_"Cause we are going to be,_

_Forever you and me,_

_You will always keep me flying high in the sky, Love._

_Don't you think its time you started_

_Doing what we always wanted,_

_One day we going to get so high,_

_'Cause even the impossible is easy,_

_When we got each other."_

She coughed again, pausing in her singing, before humming again what seemed to be the chorus.

_"Cause we are going to be,_

_Forever you and me,_

_You will always keep me flying high in the sky, Love."_

Kakashi felt his heart aching, and walked over to the ANBU member, standing next to the man. He didn't do anything, but just stood there, waiting with him, waiting for the ANBU kunoichi to stop singing. But for Bear, Kakashi just being there was enough.

She began coughing, and Bear turned to her, by her side in a second, along with Kakashi, who followed as well, wanting to respect the ANBU member who had given her life for her comrades.

"Kakashi…" The ANBU member coughed, reaching for him. Kakashi felt his hearty jump, even though he did not know why. "My apart- cough … by bed… second…drawer…"

Kakashi nodded, partially understanding the woman, but not knowing why she was talking to him, looking down at her bloodied lips, and feeling sad for the woman. She knew she was dying, and had no choice. But of course, who had a choice when they died. No, the right way to phrase it was that she was dying, and if she had had a bit more chakra, she would have been able to heal herself.

She coughed again, and then lifting her hand, she gathered the last of her chakra, and beckoned Bear forwards, healing the cut that he had on his arm. She smiled, her lips curving up gently as she took her last breath, sighing, as her life drifted out of her crimson lips and into the air, in one last syllable.

"Kaaa…"

***

Kakashi fought off the memories, and leapt over the roofs of the houses in Konoha towards the Hokage tower. He reached the window of Tsunade's office, and opened it carefully, entering the office in his normal fashion. He was shocked to find Ibiki sitting in the Hokage's chair, but hid it well under his mask, although he could not keep his surprise from his voice.

"Morino Ibiki?"

Ibiki turned, his face grim, although that was not unusual. "Hatake Kakashi."

"Um…" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head nervously, feeling like he had missed something. 'Why is Ibiki in the Hokage's office… and where is Tsunade?' he thought, but instead saying, "Oh, I was not expecting you here… do you know where Tsunade is? She asked me to come to her office as soon as I got back…"

Ibiki's mouth turned down, his face becoming even more bleak and forbidding, if possible.

"You might want to sit down Kakashi."

***

A slightly ripped and messy letter sat on the table, the surroundings of the table, dark and shadowed.

The only light in the room was shining on its flat, knowing surface.

There were small drops of water on its, the ink blurred and smudged, as if someone who had been reading its contents had dripped small droplets of salty water on it, and screwed it up tightly, before smoothing it out, and reading it again, trying to understand the writing.

***

_Kakashi_

_Not Kakashi-sensei, or Kakashi-senpai. Just Kakashi._

_If you are reading this letter, then I was coward, and never got up the guts to tell you my secret, the last thing that I wanted to tell you before I go, or I died when you were away on your mission._

_I was disappointed to say in the least, when I found out that you were going on a mission, shortly after the incident at the Hyuuga party. You ran away from me. What was it that scared you so much, that you felt compelled to leave Konoha, for a dangerous six month long mission, away from your friends and me? Was it because you were scared by the thought of your ex-student liking you? _

_Or was it because you were scared that, and I both hope that what I am saying now is true, yet at the same time fear that it is true, that you liked your former student back?_

_I love you._

_Funny how three little words send people to the extremes, making them do anything for a person to hear those three words, or sending people mad when they hear those words._

_I love you._

_I know this from the very bottom of my heart, the very depths of my soul, and the very core of my essence. I mean those three little words with all of my being, and wish that I could have told you face to face, and seen your reaction. _

_I wish that you would have taken me in your arms, and smiled down at me, saying some cheesy line from a romance novel, or a movie, like 'I have been waiting for you to say that, ever since you kissed me that night.' Or maybe, 'When I left you, I was on my way as far away from Konoha, but it was then that I realised, I might not have gone where I was intending to go, but I think I have ended up where I was meant to be.'_

_Then you would have kissed me on the lips, so gently, and then we would fall in love all over again._

_Sasuke was a distraction, the way that my heart was trying to protect itself. Stupid I know, but my heart is not my head, and would rather think with my heart over my head any day, as long as it leads me to you._

_I love you, and have for a long time. I think I fell in love with you as we got closer, and I found out more about you, when we began training and taking missions together, or when you helped me up from the dirt when I fell, or saved my life so many numerous times. But I think, that it was when I saw you at the memory stone, every morning, and the way that you looked as you stood there, the emotions in your eyes telling me more than you could ever imagine. _

_If I never got to tell you this, then I will tell you now. _

_You have beautiful eyes. When I looked into them, they were like summer rainstorms, and blue skies, purple, and blue and gray and black… so many different shades to represent so many different emotions. Kissing you was like kissing the rain, something so soft and soothing, but out of reach._

_I am writing this as I sit in my office at the hospital, looking out the window and down at the people in the streets, and the people coming into the hospital. It is only now, that I realise just how fragile our lives are, how quickly they can change, and how fast they can end. Like a butterfly. They only live a few days, but in those days they visit so many flowers, and flash so much light and colour from their wings. _

_I guess what I am saying is that I love you, and will till the day that I die, and for the rest of what ever comes after it._

_Sakura_

***

Why her, why did it always have to be the ones that I love?

Why I am cursed, so that everyone that I get close to, dies.

Mother, father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, Asuma…

Sakura…

I don't want to live without you.

***

Kakashi held the letter tight in his hands as he walked down to the bar, knowing that that would be where the rest of Team Kakashi would be. Ibiki had told him that he was the first to know about her death, and that, as the tem leader, it would be his responsibility to tell them about her occupation as an ANBU member to an elite squadron of shinobi under Ibiki.

The letter was clenched tighter in his hands.

Kakashi kept his head down as he walked into the bar, moving towards the table where they would be sitting. He did not want them to see his face before he told them.

He was still crying.

Kakashi sat down at the chair, ignoring Naruto's suggestion to go and get a drink, and instead speaking quietly, "We need to have a team meeting."

"We already are here as a team, so speak." Sasuke was blunt, to impatient to wait to find out why Kakashi was acting weird.

"Somewhere private."

***

"So what is it?" Sai asked, looking at Kakashi with a minimal amount of interest, which is a lot for Sai. The rest of Team Kakashi consisted of Sasuke, Naruto and Yamato. They too looked at Kakashi's back with wonder and curiosity, wondering what Kakashi wanted to speak to them about.

"As Team leader, it is my duty to tell you the news about Sakura."

Yamato looked away from the other members of the team, knowing what Kakashi was going to say. He could tell from the formal tone of voice that Kakashi was using, so odd and cold compared to his normal easy going teasing tone. There was also the way that he was avoiding eye contact, and turning his face away from them.

He had lost many members of various teams that he had been on, but Yamato felt the loss of their pink haired team mate greatly. He had know that something was going to go wrong, since the day that she joined the ANBU squad that Ibiki controlled. Especially since he found out what was going on with Kakashi and Sakura.

Or rather the delay of what should have been happening between the two.

It was Murphy's law.

He had finally figured out what had happened between the two of them, and had been putting the pieces together since that day that he bumped into her at the café.

***

Yamato saw Sakura sitting in the café by herself, frowning and seeming lost in thought. She had a very familiar look on her face, and a sadness in her eyes that too was familiar.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine thanks… just a lot on my mind…"

Yamato smiled kindly at her. "Is there anything that I can do to help?"

He knew of her love for Sasuke and how she had been hurt by him so many times. Naruto had told him about it one night at the bar. It seemed that she had bad luck in her choices of men, always seeming to go for the dark, revenge seeking, and uncaring man.

Sakura smiled, shaking her head. "No, but thanks anyway. My thoughts are problems that I need to deal with myself." Her voice was laced with gratitude. Then, as her mind kicked into gear, she remembered, "Actually, there is… do you know where Kakashi-senpai is at the moment?"

Yamato was confused as to why she would be seeking out their superior, but answered anyway. "He will probably be reading somewhere, or at the memorial grounds. He likes to read up on the Hokage Mountain…"

Sakura grinned, eating the last bite of her toasted sandwich. "Thanks Yamato-senpai, I really appreciate it." She rolled her eyes, standing up from the table and joining the older shinobi to walk out the door. "Kakashi-senpai always knew how to hide from the world so he could read for hours and be late for everything."

Yamato laughed, smiling and agreeing with the kunoichi, even if he would never say it out loud, in case the Copy Nin heard him.

He watched her walk off, a spring in her step, and her shoulders set, unlike what her attitude had been before. It was strange, and did not make sense… why would Sakura be so sad and down about Sasuke, then cheer up when he told her where Kakashi would be…

She was in love with Sasuke, so why should she be looking for Kakashi?

***

The next clue that he had gotten was when he had been training at the training grounds, and saw her with Kurenai and Anko, talking about how to seduce guys. He had not been paying attention, rather concentrating on his training, that is, until he had heard Kakashi's name being thrown into the conversation.

He knew that Sakura had joined the special elite ANBU squad, but could not understand why, and what she was doing with the older two women. At first he thought that the older women were training Sakura for a mission of special… circumstances, but then he found out that it wasn't that.

And he saw her standing at the memorial stone, just like Kakashi would, lost in thought.

It was then that he figured out that it was not Sasuke that Sakura was in love with.

It was Kakashi.

***

"What news?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrow and looking sharply at their team leader.

"Yeah, cause we already know that Sakura is in ANBU and working for them, that's why she stopped working at the hospital so much." Naruto grinned, rolling his eyes at the silver haired jounin.

"No, that's not what he is talking about." Sai looked as emotionless as ever, but there was a vague feeling in the bottom of his stomach, and he was playing with his scroll and ink pens as he spoke, showing his discomfort.

"But…" Naruto looked confused, looking from Yamato's sad face, to Sai.

Kakashi continued on.

"Sakura was part of ANBU, but also part of a special elite squad of ANBU members, specially chosen by some of the highest ranking shinobi in the village for the hardest and most dangerous missions. I am sorry to inform you that while on one of those missions Sakura-"

"No… no… no… NO!!!" Naruto shouted, throwing himself at the silver haired man, before being caught by the arms by Sasuke. Naruto wailed, and screamed, his eyes a menacing red colour, and his body changing shape to accommodate the kyuubi.

"She can't… no… please no…"

'Not her…'

Tears streamed down his face, creating clear trails of water.

Sai stood, watching the scene, his eyes deep, and far away in memories long before. Yamato too watched, his head downcast more, as he became a observer, not a player of the drama.

Naruto fell to his knees, head in hands, as he cried his heart out for his pink haired team mate.

"No… Sakura-chan… why…? Why did you go… why did you go…? Why were you taken from us…? Please, no… no… SAKURA!!!"

Sasuke felt his eyes grow wet with tears too. He loved his pink haired team mate, no matter how many times he called he annoying, he had never meant it, it was just him trying to keep her at a distance and stop her from getting hurt by him. If he had let her get close to him…

But she had.

She had wedged herself under his barriers, beginning a new leaf for them, as friends and team mates, instead of a fan girl trying to be with a cocky boy. He was never in love with her, but he did love her… or he loved her.

Past tense.

"No."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi, his eyes changing to the sharingan as he stared at Kakashi with hatred in his eyes. "No." he repeated, his mouth turning into a bitter smile, as he shook his head.

"No, you are not sorry to inform us that. You are sorry that you have to be the one, but it's not like you care, standing there, emotionless and not even gathering the courage and decency to tell us face to face, looking us in the eye so that we can see your grief and sorrow." Sasuke spat out, his sharingan spinning as he took a deep breath and his eyes never leaving the back of Kakashi's vest, and the symbol on it.

"Sasuke-" Yamato tried to interrupt and stop the Uchiha's rant, but once started, Sasuke would not stop, letting all of his emotions loss for the first time in five years.

"You never cared about her, when she was your student. Sure you protected her, like the rest of us did, but you never took the time of day to try and get to know her, or teach her. You favoured me, and taught me your most powerful move. Hell, you even showed Naruto more attention than what you did her...

"She was always the weak one, and once she got strong, it was never your doing, but the Hokage's. The Hokage, the Mother of all Suckers, saw something in her that none of us, none of us saw in her. Not even Naruto, who worshipped her like a goddess did not see her inner strength to its full power." Sasuke shook his head, his eyes closing for a brief second as he took a breath.

"You're wrong."

Kakashi didn't turn around, but put his hand into his pocket feeling the scrunched up letter in his palm. "I cared for her more than you could ever know. You know nothing about me."

They were left speechless, as Kakashi walked away.

It was only then that they saw the tears streaming down his face, creating clear trails of water.

***

He went back to an empty house, alone again. He reread the letter, tears still falling down his face. He did not want to believe it. She could not be dead. But she was, he had seen her die. He had watched, doing nothing, as she had died. He had failed her. Again and again and again, just like Sasuke had said. He was a failure. Even though he was called a protégé, he was not. He was a failure.

He failed when it counted most.

He sat on his desk, and let it out, not bothering to hold it in, like he had, time and time before. It was too hard, and it had been too long. He let the tears pour down his face, and held his head and cried. He sobbed, letting it all out.

"Sakura... oh Sakura... Why? Why did I let you go?! Why did I let you slip through my fingers!!!? Why did I not do something!!!? How could I do that?!!!"

In a flash of movement, he hit his desk, in a flash of smoke, he was gone. He ran away, to take it out, to beat the shit out of his body, to make some sense of life, to try and regain that sense of life...

He went to the training grounds, and fought against clone after clone, almost depleting his chakra and killing himself in the process. He shook with sobs, and screams as he fought, punching and kicking, lashing out like a wild wolf, biting who ever came near. The pain was too much for him to handle. He could not bare it.

His clones disappeared.

He fell to his knees.

"Sakura... Gomen Sakura... I'm so sorry... A thousand sorrows could not tell you that... Just don't leave me... Don't leave me here... Don't leave me here alone... Stay... come back... please... please... please... Sakura..."

~~*~~

That was where Tsunade found him, after summoning Pakkun to find him.

Hands clenched in the dirt, kneeling on the ground, battered, bruised, bloody...

Broken.

***

Wow… I felt that one…

Read and review people… tell me whether I am a good writer and managed to get that one hit home…


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